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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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November 28th,
2006 - Europeans Accused of Obstructing CIA Prison Probe |
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Europeans Accused of Obstructing
CIA Prison Probe By Darren Ennis Reuters November 28, 2006 Brussels - European
countries knew about U.S. secret jails for terrorism suspects and have
obstructed an investigation into the transport and illegal detention of
prisoners, a draft European Parliament report said on Tuesday. It criticised a string of
top EU officials including foreign policy chief Javier Solana and
counter-terrorism coordinator Gijs de Vries, and complained of lack of
cooperation from nearly all member states. The report said Nicolo
Pollari, former head of Italy's SISMI intelligence service, had
"concealed the truth" when he told a European Parliament committee
in March that Italian agents had played no part in the CIA kidnapping of an
Egyptian cleric. On the contrary, SISMI
officials played an active role in the abduction of Abu Omar, and it was
"very probable" that the Italian government knew of the operation,
the report said. The government of Silvio
Berlusconi, who was in power at the time, repeatedly denied any knowledge.
His successor Romano Prodi last week named a new head of SISMI to replace
Pollari, who faces possible indictment over the Abu Omar affair but denies
any wrongdoing. The case is one of the most
publicised examples of a suspected CIA "rendition", or secret
transfer of a terrorist suspect between countries - a practice that human
rights groups say often leads to torture. The European Parliament
report said Abu Omar, abducted in Milan in 2003 and flown to Egypt, had been
"held incommunicado and tortured ever since". Europeans Complicit The document, obtained by
Reuters, echoed charges from the Council of Europe human rights body that
European states were complicit in U.S. abuses during the war on terrorism. It said records, from a
confidential source, of a European Union and NATO meeting with U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice last December confirmed that "member states
had knowledge of the (U.S.) programme of extraordinary rendition and secret
prisons". President George W. Bush
confirmed in September that the CIA had held high-level terrorism suspects at
secret overseas locations, but Washington denies using torture or handing
over prisoners to countries that practise it. The EU and Council of Europe
inquiries were launched partly in response to press reports last year that
the United States ran secret prisons in Poland and Romania. Both countries strongly deny
that. But Tuesday's report complained of lack of cooperation from the Polish
government and regretted Romania's reluctance to investigate thoroughly. Among other criticisms in
the draft report: - It was "totally
unacceptable" that the EU Council first hid, then provided only partial
information on regular discussions with senior U.S. administration officials. - Solana's evidence to the
committee contained "omissions and denials" which prompted deep
concern. - De Vries's evidence lacked
credibility and the committee questioned the point of his counter-terrorism
coordinator role. - The committee was
frustrated that neither Europol criminal intelligence boss Max-Peter Ratzel
nor NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had agreed to speak to it. - It "deplored"
poor cooperation from Britain, as represented before the committee by Europe
Minister Geoff Hoon. The draft report expressed
deep concern that temporary secret detention facilities in European countries
might have been located in U.S. military bases, and said states hosting such
bases needed to exercise greater control. (c) Reuters 2006. All rights
reserved. External link: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1766212006 |