U.S. Will Address E.U. Questions on CIA Prisons

PHOTO: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
CLICK TO READ: U.S. Will Address E.U. Questions on CIA Prisons by Glenn Kessler, Washington Post:

THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE WEEK AWARD GOES TO STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SEAN McCORMACK WHO TOLD REPORTERS:

"These are certainly legitimate questions."

He was referring to the topic of covert CIA prisons for al Qaeda captives in Eastern Europe.

"British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, writing on behalf of the European Union, sent Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a letter yesterday seeking "clarification" about the matter, the British Embassy said. Franco Frattini, the union's top justice official, warned Monday that any E.U. country discovered to have hosted CIA prisons will face "serious consequences," including losing its E.U. voting rights....

...The Washington Post reported early this month that the CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe as part of a covert prison system that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe. The Post did not identify the Eastern European countries at the request of senior U.S. officials, who said the disclosure could disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and make them targets of retaliation."

Of course, the administration denies doing anything wrong, angels that they are.


PHOTO: In Afghanistan, the largest CIA covert prison was code-named the Salt Pit, at center left above. (Space Imaging Middle East)

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