Judge suspends trial in rendition case

MILAN - An Italian judge yesterday suspended a kidnapping trial linked to the CIA's extraordinary rendition program after the government said testimony could be a threat to Italy's national security.

The trial involves 26 Americans and five Italian intelligence agents charged in the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric. Most of the Americans are CIA agents.

It is the first trial to involve the CIA's program of secretly transferring terrorism suspects to third countries where, critics of the program contend, they risked torture.

Judge Oscar Magi suspended the trial until March 18, expecting Italy's Constitutional Court to have resolved the national security issue by then.

Both Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his predecessor, Romano Prodi, have warned that testimony in the case could compromise operations between Italian spy services and the CIA.

ASSOCIATED PRESS