Italy overhauls spy services after scandals

ROME, Aug 2 (Reuters) Italy gave parliament more oversight of the country's spy agencies after a series of scandals that included suspected eavesdropping on magistrates and the kidnapping of a terrorism suspect.

The reform will see the agencies report more directly to the prime minister and cabinet, and time limits will be placed on how long documents can remain classified.

Parliament's oversight committee, which in the past has complained about its lack of investigative power, will also be able to lift state secrecy restrictions altogether.

''It represents an innovation of extraordinary relevance, that puts us in line with systems adopted by the most advanced Western democracies,'' said Claudio Scajola yesterday, a centre-right lawmaker who heads the oversight committee.

The reforms are meant to answer worries raised in the wake of repeated accusations about spies of bending or breaking Italian laws, sometimes in the fight against terrorism but also for political or financial gain.

In a trial in Milan, US and Italian spies are accused of abducting a terrorism suspect in Milan and flying him to his native Egypt in 2003. The cleric says he was tortured there.

A senior judicial body headed by Italy's president accused Italy's military spy agency last month of snooping on judges and prosecutors across Europe, but doubts have since been raised about the level of any eavesdropping.

Reuters SAM GC0904