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Investigator: US shipped out detainees
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-14 08:33
A European investigator said Tuesday he has found mounting indications the
United States illegally held detainees in Europe but then hurriedly shipped out
the last ones to North Africa a month ago when word leaked out.
Dick Marty, a Swiss senator looking into claims the CIA operated secret
prisons in Europe, said an ongoing, monthlong investigation unearthed "clues"
that Poland and Romania were implicated �� perhaps unwittingly.
Both countries have denied any involvement and Marty said he believes no
prisoners are now being held by the U.S. in Europe. The CIA declined to comment.
"To my knowledge, those detainees were moved about a month ago, maybe a
little more," he told reporters after briefing the legal committee of the
Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog, on his findings. "They were moved to
North Africa."
Swiss politician Dick Marty is seen in
Bucharest November 25, 2005. [Reuters] | Asked by
The Associated Press on the sidelines of the meeting to which North African
country detainees might have been moved, he said: "I would imagine that it would
be Morocco �� up to you to confirm it."
Moroccan government spokesman Nabil Benabdellah denied any connection to such
prisons when reports of the transfers surfaced last week. "We have nothing to do
with and we have no knowledge about this subject," he told the AP.
The Washington Post first reported the alleged existence of secret prisons in
eastern Europe and other countries on Nov. 2.
The newspaper did not name the countries, but the New York-based Human Rights
Watch said it had evidence indicating the CIA transported suspected terrorists
captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania. The conclusion was based on an
analysis of flight logs of CIA aircraft from 2001 to 2004 obtained by the group.
European officials say such prisons would violate the continent's human
rights principles.
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