EU grows impatient on secret-prison issue

LONDON — European indignation over the CIA's alleged use of kidnappings, secret flights and clandestine prisons on European territory mounted Wednesday as leaders in Britain and Germany pressed the U.S. government for an explanation.

The European Union cited possible "violations of international law" by the United States in its request that the Bush administration clarify media reports and "allay parliamentary and public concerns" about secret CIA prisons and the transporting of al-Qaida suspects in Europe, according to a letter from British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The brief letter, written by Straw because the United Kingdom currently holds the EU presidency, makes no accusations and carefully refers only to media characterizations. It does not mention myriad investigations launched by governments and European institutions since The Washington Post disclosed last month a secret CIA prison system operating in Eastern European and other countries. The British government has not released the letter, but it was provided by diplomatic sources.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, who has declined to confirm or deny existence of the CIA detention centers, said the administration would respond "to the best of our ability." He set no timetable for a response, but European officials said they hope Rice makes public her reply before she departs next week on a five-day swing through Europe.

The diplomatic repercussions of the reports have been far-reaching. Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot even suggested last week that the Netherlands' contribution of 1,100 soldiers to Afghanistan could be in jeopardy if the Americans "continue to beat around the bush" on the CIA prisons. He said the Dutch — generally staunch U.S. allies — will have to weigh the interests of fighting terrorism on one hand and respect for human rights on the other, adding that there "lies the point beyond which we will not go."

However, Bot did not repeat that linkage Wednesday when he met with Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried to discuss the NATO deployment, U.S. officials said.

Earlier this week, Franco Frattini, the European Union's top justice minister, warned member states they would face severe sanctions if it turns out they allowed secret prisons to operate on their territory.

Human Rights Watch, the New York-based rights organization, has suggested that the secret prisons are in Poland and Romania. Both countries deny it, but the European Council has appointed a Swiss senator, Dick Marty, to investigate.

In Britain, The Guardian newspaper reported that the CIA has used British airfields for rendition operations on at least 210 occasions since Sept. 11, 2001.

"The 26-strong fleet [of aircraft] run by the CIA have used 19 British airports and RAF [Royal Air Force] bases, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Luton, Bournemouth and Belfast," the newspaper reported.

In addition to the Italian inquiry, investigations are under way in Austria, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Spain and Portugal. A group of British lawmakers also has demanded an investigation.

Using information from Human Rights Watch, Marty has said CIA-linked planes appear to have stopped over at airports in Ireland, Cyprus and Spain.

"Democracy is rather fragile in these Eastern European countries" accused of hosting the illegal jails, points out Guillaume Parmentier, head of the French Center on the U.S., a think tank in Paris that promotes trans-Atlantic ties. "It makes the Americans look exceptionally hypocritical to say that democracy should be spread everywhere and then encourage their allies to do things outside the rule of law."

Some former prisoners have claimed they were tortured in the secret facilities that constitute the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" network. They include Khaled al-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese origin, who says he was kidnapped in Macedonia in 2003, flown by the CIA to Afghanistan, and interrogated there for five months before being released with no explanation. A German prosecutor is investigating the alleged kidnapping.

Compiled from the Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor and

The Washington Post