Nicolò Pollari (born 3 March 1943 in Caltanissetta) is a general of the Italian Guardia di Finanza, who was the former head of Italy's national military intelligence agency, or SISMI, from 1 October 2001 until his resignation on 20 November 2006.

He assisted in the CIA kidnapping of a cleric to be sent to Egypt for torture - for which he was convicted in 2013 to a 10-year jail sentence,[1] that was overturned in 2014 upon appeal to the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation. He is claimed to have earlier supported the US efforts to justify the invasion of Iraq by providing false documents.

Niger uranium forgeries

In a 2005 article in the newspaper La Repubblica he was identified by investigative reporters Giuseppe D'Avanzo and Carlo Bonini, as having brought the discredited documents at the centre of the Yellowcake forgery scandal directly to Vice-President Dick Cheney's Office of Special Plans, bypassing the CIA, who knew the documents were forgeries.[2]

Abu Omar case

On 5 December 2006, his indictment was sought for his role in the abduction of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr from the streets of Milan on 17 February 2003. Marco Mancini, number two of the SISMI, as well as number three, General Gustavo Pignero, were also indicted, and arrested, in July 2006, for their role in the Abu Omar case, as well as 26 American citizens.

On 12 February 2013 Pollari was sentenced to ten years in prison by the Appeals Court of Milan.[3][1] The sentence was overturned on 24 February 2014.[4]

Mitrokhin Commission

According to the Italian public prosecutor Pietro Salvitti, cited by La Repubblica, Nicolò Pollari, as well as Marco Mancini, were some of the informers, alongside Mario Scaramella, of senator Paolo Guzzanti, in charge of the controversial Mitrokhin Commission. Scaramella was arrested at the end of December 2006 on charges of defamation and arms trade. The Mitrokhin Commission falsely claimed that former Italian prime minister, Romano Prodi, had been the "KGB's man in Italy" during the Cold War. Beside targeting Romano Prodi and his staff, this "network", according to Pietro Salvitti's words, also aimed at defaming General Giuseppe Cucchi (current director of the CESIS), Milan's judges Armando Spataro, in charge of the Abu Omar case, and Guido Salvini, as well as La Repubblica reporters Carlo Bonini and Giuseppe D'Avanzo.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Italian ex-spy chief gets 10 years in CIA case". Reuters. 12 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Source of Forged Niger-Iraq Uranium Documents Identified", ELAINE SCIOLINO and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO, 4 November 2005, New York Times
  3. ↑ "Abu Omar, Pollari condannato a dieci anni – "Sono sconcertato, io come Tortora"". La Repubblica (in Italian). Milano. 12 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Italian former spy chief cleared in CIA rendition case".
  5. ↑ Bonini, Carlo; D'Avanzo, Giuseppe (11 January 2007). "Il falso dossier di Scaramella – "Così la Russia manipola Prodi"". La Repubblica (in Italian).
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