Deputy prosecutor general Donatella Grieco has ordered that a request for the extradition of 22 individuals wanted for questioning, signed by anti-terrorism public prosecutors Spataro and Ferdinando Enrico Pomarici, should be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice. The request will go to the minister, Roberto Castelli, who has been asked to send it on to the American legal authorities. In theory, the code allows the minister the option of “refusing or delaying” the public prosecutors’ request, thus creating a major political issue. It is interesting to note that Mr Castelli has just returned from Washington, where he went “to meet the American Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales”. During their talks, the two discussed “several letters rogatory” and “extradition cases”. Italian sources refused to release any details of the discussions, but it is thought likely that the Calipari case and perhaps also the Abu Omar abduction were on the agenda.

Germany may also be interested in extraditing those involved in the kidnapping.

According to the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, a German prosecutor has opened a separate investigation into the February 2003 kidnapping of the imam, better known as Abu Omar, who was abducted from a Milan sidewalk and driven some 175 miles to an Italian air base where he was put aboard a military flight to another air base in Germany. The Aviano air base in Italy and the Ramstein air base in Germany are home to units of the U.S. Air Force. According to Spataro's investigation, Abu Omar was put aboard a different plane at Ramstein for the final leg of the flight to Cairo, where he has been interrogated and imprisoned except for a brief release in April of last year.

The German prosecutor, Eberhard Bayer, whose district includes the