ROME — The Italian government and its intelligence services were not aware of and did not participate in the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan, a Defense Ministry official told Senate committees today, amid growing evidence that the Americans did not act alone.

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, in power at the time of the kidnapping, always maintained that his government and Italian secret services were not informed about the supposed antiterrorism operation and had not taken part in it.

But prosecutors in Milan investigating the kidnapping arrested two Italian intelligence agents last week — the first official sign Italians were involved. The agents, Marco Mancini and Gustavo Pignero, have denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors also are seeking the arrest of 26 Americans, all but one believed to be CIA agents.

Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, an Egyptian cleric and terrorist suspect also known as Abu Omar, allegedly was abducted from a Milan street in February 2003.

IRKUTSK, Russia — Aviation officials struggled Monday to explain Russia's second deadly commercial airline crash in nearly two months, as relatives of the more than 120 people killed desperately sought information on the fate of their loved ones.The Airbus A310 operated by Russian airline S7 crashed Sunday morning in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, 2,600 miles east of Moscow. It was attempting to land when it veered off a wet runway, slammed into adjacent garages, then burst into flames.As of Monday evening, 127 of the 203 passengers and crew on board were confirmed dead and were awaiting identification, said Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin. Seventy-five people were believed to have survived and 53 of them remained hospitalized Monday, authorities said.A preliminary investigation indicated the plane's braking system failed, Russian news agencies reported. Levitin said the two flight recorders were being analyzed.