Untitled Document
Summary:
Al-Masri, a Lebanese-born German national, says he was seized while on vacation
in Europe last year and then brought to a U.S. prison in Afghanistan where he
was tortured and interrogated for suspected ties to the Al Qaeda terror group.
[Posted By gaanjah_mama]
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By AP
Republished from The
Toronto Star
...the United States wanted German officials to keep silent because
of fears of exposing a covert U.S. program...
The United States acknowledged last year that the Central Intelligence Agency
had wrongfully imprisoned a German man for five months, The Washington Post
reported Sunday.
The U.S. ambassador to Germany told the German interior minister that the United
States would free Khaled al-Masri and asked the minister not to speak of the
case, according to several people with knowledge of the conversation who spoke
to the newspaper.
Al-Masri, a Lebanese-born German national, says he was seized while on vacation
in Europe last year and then brought to a U.S. prison in Afghanistan where he
was tortured and interrogated for suspected ties to the Al Qaeda terror group.
A German prosecutor is looking into al-Masri’s claims.
The Post’s sources, who would only speak anonymously, said the United
States wanted German officials to keep silent because of fears of exposing a
covert U.S. program to capture terror suspects abroad and transfer them to other
countries.
The CIA declined to comment, as did the U.S. Embassy in Germany, the German
interior ministry and the German Embassy in Washington.
The case, the Post reports, shows how pressure on the CIA to arrest terrorists
after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has led to detention sometimes based on thin
or speculative evidence.
CIA officials have said “renditions” — the capture and transfer
of a suspect for interrogation — are among the best ways to deal with
potential terrorists.
The CIA and other intelligence agencies have captured an estimated 3,000 people,
including several key Al Qaeda leaders.
One official told the Post that about three dozen names are being investigated
for what the agency calls “erroneous renditions.” Others say it’s
fewer.
