SISMI Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare ( Military Intelligence and Security Service , SISMI ) is the military intelligence agency of Italy . History The agency was established in 1977 , in response to a desire to decentralize the Italian intelligence community . This came after Vito Miceli 's arrest , in 1974 , a P2 member , chief of the SIOS ( Servizio Informazioni ) , Army Intelligence 's Service from 1969 and SID 's head from 1970 to 1974 , accused of `` conspiration against the state '' and involvement in the strategia della tensione , in which Gladio `` stay-behind '' NATO clandestine structure was found in the 1990s to be deeply implicated . General Giuseppe Santovito was SISMI 's director in 1975 . In 1977 , the secret services were reorganized in a democratic attempt . With law # 801 of 24/10/1977 , SID was divided into SISMI ( Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare ) , SISDE ( Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica ) and CESIS ( Comitato Esecutivo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza ) . The CESIS has a coordination role , led by the President of Council . General Nino Lugarese was SISMI 's head from 1981 to 1984 . He testified on Gladio . Mission SISMI is responsible for intelligence and security activities involving the military defence of Italy and for the integrity of the Italian State . SISMI reports to the Italian Ministry of Defense and operates both inside and outside of Italy 's borders . Domestic Intelligence and Security in Italy , which normally falls under SISDE 's jurisdiction since it reports to the Ministry of the Interior , can also involve SISMI , unless the security threat comes from organized crime . Its duties include : clearing activities with the Prime Minister ; nominating the Director of the Service and his assistants under CIIS supervision . The director at present is General Nicolò Pollari . Recent controversies In 2004 , Nicola Calipari , a high-ranking SISMI hostage negotiator , was killed at a U.S. Army checkpoint in Baghdad by Mario Lozano , purportedly after a communication breakdown between the Italian intelligence community and the occupying forces . Main article : Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena In 2005 , SISMI was implicated in the Yellowcake forgery scandal . The forged documents purporting to detail an Iraqi purchase of yellowcake uranium from Niger were given to a `` cutout '' named Rocco Martino by a Colonel in SISMI , Antonio Nucera . The head of SISMI , after claiming his agency received the documents from external sources , then gave the documents directly to Vice-President Dick Cheney 's Office of Special Plans , bypassing the CIA , who knew the documents were forgeries . In doing so , Pollari ignored the established protocol for contacts between Italian and American intelligence agencies . . Main article : Yellowcake forgery In July 2006 , the Italian judiciary power issued arrest warrants for several SISMI officials , including former Deputy Director Marco Mancini ; Mancini 's aide Giuseppe Ciorra ; General Gustavo Pignero , agency chief for Northern Italy ; Pio Pompa , aide to SISMI Director Niccolò Pollari ; former Trieste Station Chief Lorenzo Pillinini ; Former Padua Station Chief Marco Iodice ; and , Milan Station Chief Maurizio Regondi relating to the joint CIA-SISMI operation resulting in the extraordinary rendition of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr , also known as Abu Omar , which SISMI Director Pollari had formally denied in testimony before a committee of the national legislature . As part of a judiciary investigation , a SISMI-run black operation targeting Romano Prodi and a vast domestic surveillance program was uncovered . Pompa prevailed upon the newpaper Libero to print allegations that Prodi , when serving as European Commissioner , had authorized the CIA prison flights via Italy . SISMI placed under surveillance La Repubblica reporters Giuseppe D'Avanzo and Carlo Bonini , who broke the Yellowcake forgery story . See also Mehmet Ali Ağca , a Grey Wolves member who tried to assassinate the Pope in 1981 . Michael Ledeen External links Official webpage of the Italian Intelligence Community Official webpage in English of the Italian Intelligence Community Categories : Military of Italy | Intelligence agencies | Operation Condor | Gladio In other languages : Deutsch | Français | Italiano | 日本語 | Norsk ( bokmål ) | Slovenščina | Svenska Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena Yellowcake forgery 