US says would not extradite officials to Italy

BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) The United States will not meet any request by Italy to extradite 26 Americans, most thought to be CIA agents, to stand trial over the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric, the State Department's legal adviser said today.

''We've not got an extradition request from Italy ... If we got an extradition request from Italy, we would not extradite US officials to Italy,'' John Bellinger told a news briefing in Brussels after meetings with European legal advisers.

A Milan judge earlier this month ordered the Americans to stand trial with Italian spies for kidnapping a Muslim cleric and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.

REUTERS BDP KN1524