FACTBOX-Italy convicts 23 Americans in CIA rendition case

Nov 4 (Reuters) - An Italian judge sentenced 23 Americans to up to eight years in prison on Wednesday for the abduction of a Muslim cleric in 2003, in a landmark ruling against the CIA "rendition" flights used by the previous U.S. government.

WHO WERE THE DEFENDANTS?

Twenty-six Americans were tried in absentia, 25 of them CIA agents at the time of the abduction. They included the former CIA station chief in Rome, Jeffrey Castelli, his counterpart in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, former first secretary at the U.S. embassy in Rome Ralph Russomando, and Betnie Medero and Sabrina de Sousa, both former second secretaries at the Rome embassy.

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Romano, head of security at the U.S. air base in Aviano in northerneast Italy, was also charged with taking part in the abduction.

Seven Italians also faced charges, including the former head of Italy's Sismi intelligence service, Nicolo Pollari.

WHAT WERE THE ACCUSATIONS?

That a CIA-led team grabbed Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, a Muslim cleric suspected of recuiting militants for Iraq, in broad daylight from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003.