Nicolò Pollari, a general in the Italian Guardia di Finanza (financial police), served as Director of Italy's military intelligence agency SISMI from 2001-10-01 to 2006-11-20, when he resigned amid controversies. He was a key figure in the Niger uranium forgeries affair, including the December 2001 Rome meetings with Michael Ledeen, and SISMI under his leadership provided allegedly forged documents claiming Iraq sought uranium from Niger to support U.S. intelligence efforts for the 2003 Iraq invasion. Pollari was also central to the 2003 CIA extraordinary rendition operation in Milan, where Egyptian cleric Abu Omar (Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr) was abducted with SISMI assistance and rendered to Egypt for interrogation involving torture. In 2013, a Milan court convicted him of aggravated kidnapping with a 10-year sentence, which he appealed claiming unawareness and classified evidence; the conviction was overturned by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation in 2014. Post-resignation, he faced ongoing scrutiny for his role in U.S.-Italy intelligence cooperation, testified before the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on intelligence matters, and has been referenced in media coverage of related trials.