ROME (AP) -- Italy's justice minister on Tuesday questioned the motives of a Milan prosecutor seeking the extradition of 22 purported CIA agents, suggesting he was a leftist militant and anti-American, Italian news agencies reported.

Castelli said Spataro [the Milan prosecutor] was known as a militant and had voted in the recent center-left primary that elected an opponent to face Premier Silvio Berlusconi in elections next spring. Berlusconi has frequently claimed that he is the victim of leftist prosecutors in Milan.

Overzealous lawyers used by the left to attack America and/or right leaning political figures and agendas? When did this start? The Italian version of the ACLU?