Warrants issued for operatives; Italian court seeks arrest of 22 with CIA ties in snatching of imam.(Main)

Byline: TRACY WILKINSON Los Angeles Times

ROME - An Italian court has issued European arrest warrants for 22 CIA operatives accused of kidnapping a radical imam in Milan, expanding the dragnet for the suspects to 25 countries, a prosecutor said Friday.

The abduction is one of several cases causing a furor in Europe in which U.S. intelligence agencies are suspected of using European soil and airspace to imprison or to transport terror suspects to third countries without judicial authorization. These so-called extraordinary renditions are one of the most controversial elements of the Bush administration's efforts to fight terrorism.

In the Italian …