February 2009: State Department Cancels Diplomatic Passport of CIA Officer Involved in ‘Italian Job’ Rendition

The US State Department cancels the official diplomatic passport of Sabina De Sousa, a CIA officer who helped prepare the rendition of Islamist extremist Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (a.k.a. Abu Omar—see Noon February 17, 2003) in 2003. De Sousa was working under State Department cover at the time. The move is the result of De Sousa being named as a CIA officer in an Italian trial against her and dozens of others involved in the abduction. Reporter Jeff Stein will say that the cancellation is a “professional death knell” for De Sousa, as she cannot get another position abroad without it, and that it leaves her “even more vulnerable to arrest and extradition by Italian authorities should she travel abroad.” In addition, the State Department tells De Sousa she cannot travel to India to visit her sick mother, and that she will be dismissed if she does. De Sousa quits her job in response. [Congressional Quarterly, 5/15/2009]