"It was a sunny midday on Feb. 17, 2003. I was on the way from my apartment to the mosque, which was only about a kilometer (0.6 miles) away. There was nothing unusual to be seen. I walked through Via Guerzoni as usual, past small stores. The only thing that attracted my attention was a white delivery van by the side of the road, which I had never seen there before. My wife and I had already suspected for some time that we were under surveillance. Cars kept following us, or at least we thought so. Also, the phone often rang at home and in the mosque, and no one could be heard on the other line when we replied. We assumed the Italian intelligence agency was observing us because I often ranted against the Americans and the imminent war against Iraq."
Abu Omar's suspicion was correct – except that he wasn't just observed by Italian terrorism investigators, who thought he might be a member of a terrorist cell and a recruiter for young terrorists. They tapped Omar's phone around the clock and also shadowed him. But US agents set their sights on him too – without officially informing their Italian colleagues. An entire team of CIA agents had arrived in Milan weeks ago, according to the investigation records of Milan justice authorities. The team was directed by the resident CIA officer.
After reconstructing the movements of the mobile phones used, the investigators know that several CIA agents spent days familiarizing themselves with Via Guerzoni before Feb. 17, 2003 in order to plan the operation. They determined when exactly Abu Omar could be expected to go where. His regular walk to the mosque at prayer time suited the agents because it them a location where they could seize him. A large number of mobile phone conversations took place around noon on Feb. 17. Agents positioned on the street told the strike force their target was on his way. The operation could begin.
"It all happened very quickly. Suddenly a red model 127 Fiat stopped next to me on the street. A man with a radio set waved his identification documents and asked for my papers. He told me to stop on the sidewalk. I gave him my papers when I felt two strong men gripping me from behind and hurling me into the white mini van. They were very brutal. They beat me and pulled a cap over my head. None of them said a word. They kicked me in the sides and in the head, and tied my hands with plastic cuffs. I had a bloody nose. I was in serious pain. They threw me on the floor of the van. I lay there, terrified, and we sped off. I couldn't see where we were going."
"At some point after we had already driven off they started to panic about whether they had injured me too badly with their strong blows and kicks. I lay gasping on the ground and kept losing consciousness briefly. One of the men was shouting wildly. They pulled up my clothes and gave me a heart massage. One even inspected my pupils, but I was still alive. They were probably afraid their cargo could already have died."
The records of the investigation show the white minivan drove at high speed towards the US military base at Aviano. Phone calls were repeatedly made from the mobile phones of the agents. During their trip, they regularly contacted the security director at the US base – apparently to say when they would arrive. They reached Aviano at 4:30 p.m.
"When we arrived after a lengthy drive, I was still wearing the hat on my head. I was still dazed from the drive. I can't say exactly whether they took me from there into an airplane or into another car. I couldn't feel whether we lifted off from the ground, but maybe it was a light airplane. In any case, the trip took about an hour or 90 minutes. I think I had several broken bones."
The investigators now know a model LJ-35 Lear Jet with the registration code "SPAR92" left Aviano on Feb. 17 at about 6:00 p.m. local time and headed in the direction of Germany. The US military uses such jet planes, usually to fly important people. It landed at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany.
"The kidnappers were very professional. They didn't say a single word in my presence. I only saw them briefly. We were now at an airport. I could hear the engines of other planes clearly. Once again, several people dragged me into a room by my hands and feet. They stood me up, because I was still restrained, cut off my clothes and put a diaper on me. Then they put me in a kind of suit and ripped the hat off my head. I saw eight men wearing black balaclavas and beige combat suits with many pockets on their arms and legs. The clothes reminded me of those worn by the special forces in films. They stood directly in front of me, armed and with knives in black holsters strapped to their legs. It only took a second, then a camera flashed brightly and they wrapped thick tape around my head. I couldn't identify any of them. It was a well planned intelligence operation. They knew exactly what they were doing."
After a brief intermediate stop, a different plane -- a Gulfstream with the registration code N85VM -- departed from Ramstein. The plane flew directly to Cairo, the Egyptian capital.
"I hardly registered the flight. I only noticed that the kidnappers carried me up a set of stairs. There were 10 steps or more. Then they simply threw me on the ground. I felt a rough carpet against my hands, which were still restrained. At first classical music was playing, but only very quietly. Then I couldn't hear anything anymore. I could feel they had placed a headset over my ears. The only thing they cared about was that I didn't die. Apart from that, they treated me like an animal. In the plane they kicked me when I spat out the water they funnelled into me. They were very brutal. They just left me lying on the floor of the airplane with my hands fastened behind my back for seven or eight hours."
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