Egypt frees cleric at center of CIA kidnap case

Egyptian authorities have released a Muslim cleric kidnapped in a suspected CIA operation in Italy and handed to Egypt, the cleric's lawyer said on Sunday. Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was grabbed off a Milan street in 2003 and flown to Egypt, where he said he had been tortured by Egyptian agents using electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse.

While Nasr was initially charged with membership in an illegal organisation, the charges were ultimately dropped, and Nasr was briefly released in April 2004 before being detained without charge under Egypt's emergency laws. (AP)