abuomarSeven years after a team of CIA officers kidnapped an Islamic cleric in Milan and secretly flew him to Egypt for torture and interrogation, Sabrina de Sousa, an officer who allegedly helped plan the operation, is suing the U.S. government for diplomatic protection. In an interview after a hearing in her case yesterday, de Sousa also said that the target of the extraordinary rendition, known as Abu Omar, did not pose a sufficient terrorism threat to warrant the controversial U.S. action.

De Sousa is one of a two dozen alleged CIA officials whom Italian courts convicted in abstentia for their alleged roles in the February 2003 extraordinary rendition of the Egyptian-born, Milan cleric, Abu Omar. In 2005, Europe issued arrests warrants for de Souza and 21 other U.S. officials allegedly connected to the operation. Milan prosecutors identified the officers through their phone records and hotel bills in the weeks before and after the raid. The arrest warrants prevent de Souza, who resigned from the U.S. government in 2009, from traveling to Europe, where her sister lives.

De Sousa attended a Washington procedural hearing yesterday as part of her civil suit arguing the U.S. government should extend her diplomatic immunity, the Los Angeles Times' Ken Dilanian reports.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered tough talk on a brief visit to Islamabad today, saying U.S.-Pakistani relations are at a crossroads, with members of Congress and many Americans raising questions about Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorism. The growing public skepticism comes of course in the wake of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in an affluent army town near Islamabad earlier this month.

Clinton candidly acknowledged that Washington's alliance with Pakistan is damaged and needs to be repaired via more aggressive Pakistani action against Islamist militants.

Relations "had reached a turning point," Clinton said. It is "up to the government of Pakistan to take decisive steps in the days ahead" against militants.

dskmay26Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has kept a comparatively low profile as he awaits the start of court proceedings on charges of attempted rape--but that's certainly not true of his legal team. The attorneys representing the former IMF chief--who is known familiarly as DSK--have already drawn a notice of rebuke from prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office.

The New York prosecutors released the letter in the wake of allegations from DSK's attorneys that they possess information that would "gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant in this case," Reuters reported.

"We were troubled that you chose to inject into the public record your claim that you possess information that might negatively impact the case and 'gravely' undermine the credibility of the victim," prosecutors said in a letter, Reuters reported. "We are aware of no such information."