Vols secrets de la CIA : la commission d`enqu

Vols secrets de la CIA : la commission d`enqu

AFP :
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UE-PE-CIA-USA-terrorisme-Macédoine
» Vols secrets de la CIA : la commission d'enquête du PE en Macédoine
SKOPJE, 27 avr 2006 (AFP) - Des membres d'une commission d'enquête du
Parlement européen sur les vols secrets de la CIA en Europe sont arrivés jeudi en
Macédoine, a indiqué une porte-parole de l'Union européenne (UE).
Cette visite de deux jours de cinq députés européens est destinée à enquêter sur le
cas de Khaled el-Masri, un Allemand d'origine libanaise, qui accuse la CIA de l'avoir
enlevé fin 2003 en Macédoine puis en Afghanistan.
La Macédoine a déjà démenti toute implication dans de supposées opérations de la
CIA.
Les membres de la commission d'enquête ont rencontré le président macédonien
Branko Crvenkovski et devaient s'entretenir également avec le vice Premier ministre
Radmila Secerinska et l'ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères Slobodan Casule, a
précisé à l'AFP la porte-parole de l'UE Andrea Angeli.
Claudio Fava, rapporteur de la commission d'enquête spéciale du Parlement
européen, a indiqué mercredi à Bruxelles que plus d'un millier de vols secrets de la
CIA ont transité depuis 2001 dans les aéroports et cieux européens, sans que les Etats
européens ne demandent aucune information.
La commission d'enquête du Parlement européen a commencé ses travaux il y a
quatre mois parallèlement à une autre enquête menée par le Conseil de l'Europe, à
Strasbourg, chargée de vérifier le respect de la Convention européenne des droits de
l'Homme.
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Informe sobre la CIA una "contribución importante", según Borrell
Lisboa, 27 abr (EFE).- El presidente del Parlamento Europeo (PE), Josep Borrell,
consideró hoy que el informe que prepara la institución de la UE sobre supuestas
ilegalidades de la CIA en la lucha antiterrorista será "una contribución importante a
ese espinoso asunto".
Borrell, que llegó hoy a Lisboa para una visita oficial de dos días, dijo a los
periodistas que no podía comentar el informe, encomendado a una comisión, porque
sólo hay un borrador que no está concluido ni se ha presentado oficialmente.
"Estoy seguro -agregó- de que la comisión habrá hecho todo lo posible para aclarar
algo que a los europeos nos debe importar mucho: hasta qué punto respetamos y
hacemos respetar en nuestra casa esos derechos humanos que decimos defender y
defendemos en todo el mundo".
Borrell recordó que la comisión nació para aclarar si en algún país europeo "se han
podido producir connivencias o colaboraciones fuera del marco legal entre gobiernos
europeos o agencias europeas y los servicios de inteligencia norteamericanos".
El presidente del PE también resaltó la necesidad de que Europa adopte medidas
para reforzar la cohesión social en su seno y afronte la precariedad en el empleo.
Además consideró que la cuestión demográfica y la energética son los problemas
estructurales más difíciles que tiene planteados la Unión Europea.
La búsqueda de soluciones a esas dos "dependencias" nos lleva al mundo
musulmán con el cual, agregó, "tenemos una imperiosa necesidad de mejorar nuestra
relación".
Borrell elogió en sus declaraciones al presidente luso, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, y al
presidente de la Comisión Europea, el también portugués José Manuel Durao Barroso,
del que dijo que la colaboración con el Parlamento Europeo es "excelente".
"Administrar por primera vez una comisión de 25 miembros no es nada fácil y
cualquier presidente tendría las dificultades que él pueda tener", observó.
Borrell, que mañana será investido doctor "honoris causa" por la Universidad
portuguesa de Coimbra, se entrevistó hoy con Cavaco Silva y con el primer ministro
luso, José Sócrates.
Un retraso que registró hoy el aeropuerto de Bruselas, provocado por un incidente
con un pasajero que se negó a ser registrado y huyó, motivaron que Borrell no pudiera
cumplir la primera parte de su visita a Portugal, en la que tenía previsto pronunciar un
discurso en la Asamblea de la República. EFE
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REUTERS :
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Macedonia faces tough questions on CIA prisoner
BERLIN, April 27 (Reuters) - Aspiring EU member Macedonia faced pressure on
Thursday to explain its role in the alleged CIA abduction of a German man as a
European Parliament team flew in for a three-day investigation mission.
German Khaled el-Masri was detained in Macedonia on Dec. 31, 2003. From there
he says he was flown by the Central Intelligence Agency to Afghanistan and jailed for
months as a terrorist suspect before being released and dumped without explanation in
Albania.
His case is among the best known examples of U.S. "extraordinary rendition" -- the
practice of secretly transferring terrorist suspects to third countries where, human
rights groups say, they may face abuse or torture.
Masri's lawyer Manfred Gnjidic, in a telephone interview with Reuters, urged
Macedonia to disclose whether or not it told German or European Union authorities it
was holding Masri.
If not, he told Reuters, it would be a "massive violation" and an argument against
EU membership for Macedonia, a former Yugoslav republic which last December
became an official candidate to join the 25-nation bloc.
But if Macedonia did tell Germany, "then Macedonia is out of the fire -- perhaps
they committed an understandable mistake under pressure from the CIA. But then
questions would have to be asked in the direction of Germany."
The German government has said it knew nothing of Masri's plight until May 31,
2004, soon after his release, when the U.S. ambassador to Berlin informed the interior
minister.
SECRET FLIGHTS
A six-member European Parliament team was arriving in Macedonia on Thursday,
led by Italian Claudio Fava, head of a committee investigating alleged secret prisoner
transfers and illegal detentions by the CIA in Europe.
In a report on its findings so far, Fava said on Wednesday that more than 1,000
secret flights operated by the CIA had transited through the EU since 2001.
"The CIA has, on several occasions, clearly been responsible for kidnapping and
illegally detaining alleged terrorists on the territory of (EU) member states, as well as
for extraordinary renditions," he said.
During its stay in Macedonia, the parliament team will meet the president,
government ministers, intelligence and human rights officials, and will visit the hotel
where Masri says he was held by armed Macedonian guards and interrogated for 23
days before being flown to Afghanistan.
His lawyer Gnjidic said among the questions he wanted answered was who paid the
bill for the hotel room, which Masri was never allowed to leave.
Other missing evidence included a video tape that Masri was forced to make
immediately before being driven to the airport to fly to Afghanistan, in which he was
made to say he had been well treated in Macedonia.
"This video wasn't made to provide Khaled el-Masri with evidence, but to exonerate
Macedonia in case the story came out ... I want to get hold of that video," he said.
Masri is suing the former head of the CIA, George Tenet, and other officials for
alleged wrongful imprisonment and torture. A first oral hearing in a Virginia court is
expected next month.
Washington has declined public comment on the case. But U.S. officials have
acknowledged that Masri was held, initially on suspicion of having a false passport
and because he had the same name as a wanted militant, and later freed for lack of
evidence.
By Mark Trevelyan, Security Correspondent
(c) 2006 Reuters Limited
Reuters News
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EU Parliament members travel to Macedonia over alleged CIA secret transfer
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - A group of European Parliament members was
traveling to Macedonia on Thursday to try and shed light on the Balkan country's
possible involvement in the alleged secret transfer of a German citizen to Afghanistan
by U.S. intelligence agents two years ago.
Khalid al-Masri, a Kuwaiti-born German national, told the European Parliament in
March he was arrested by U.S. agents on the Macedonian border while on vacation in
December 2003, was taken to a hotel in Skopje and imprisoned there for several
weeks before being flown to Kabul and put in a prison for five months. He said he
was flown back to Europe in May 2004 and released in Albania.
Al-Masri is suing the CIA for alleged wrongful imprisonment and torture.
A European Parliament committee investigating alleged illegal CIA activities in
Europe released data from the EU's air traffic agency Wednesday indicating that a
CIA-operated plane indeed flew from Skopje to Kabul, Afghanistan on Jan. 24, 2004.
In March, EU parliamentarians questioned al-Masri on all aspects of the alleged
kidnapping, including why he went to Macedonia on the last day of December. Many
seemed dissatisfied with his explanation of a bus trip across the continent to vacation
in a country that is hardly a favorite destination for German tourists.
Despite Macedonia's initial reluctance to discuss the issue with the EU
parliamentarians, the EU delegation is scheduled to meet with senior government and
parliament officials, as well as with representatives of non-governmental
organizations.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski told The Associated Press that
Macedonia was investigating whether its authorities were involved in the alleged
kidnapping.
On Wednesday, the EU parliament committee, citing data from Eurocontrol, said
the CIA has conducted more than 1,000 clandestine flights in Europe since 2001, and
some of them secretly took away terror suspects to countries where they could face
torture.
(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Associated Press Newswires
20060427