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CIA 'kidnappers' ordered arrested
GERMAN prosecutors have ordered arrest warrants for 13 people working for the CIA in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a Lebanese-born German man, public broadcaster NDR reported today.

Authorities in the southern city of Munich are probing allegations by Khaled el-Masri that he was abducted by US agents in the Macedonian capital Skopje on New Year's Eve 2003 and flown to a prison in Afghanistan for interrogation before he was released five months later in Albania. Masri has claimed without substantiating evidence said he was tortured while imprisoned.

The Munich prosecutor's office declined to confirm the report.

NDR said that the 13 suspects were facing charges of abduction and grievous bodily harm. The broadcaster said most of the CIA employees sought lived in the US state of North Carolina. NDR noted that the German arrest warrants were not valid in the US and that US authorities had refused to cooperate with the investigation. If the suspects were to travel to the EU, however, they could be arrested.

NDR said that German investigators had identified the 13 suspects with the help of the Spanish police because several so-called CIA rendition operations started from the airport in Palma de Mallorca. The report quoted Spain's Civil Guard as saying that Masri was seized by 13 CIA agents and flown on a Boeing 737 to Afghanistan.

The Spanish authorities learned the identities of all 13 agents on board and had copies of some of their passports. Although all of the names given were believed to be aliases, NDR said it was possible, using other data, to learn their real names.
Great tradecraft there, CIA. That'll teach you to think that the Europeans are our friends and that you can relax your standards when over there.
The report said three of the suspects worked for Aero Contractors, believed to be the CIA's secret airline.

Beyond the criminal investigation, the German parliament has launched a probe into Masri's case that has heard witnesses including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his predecessor Joschka Fischer.
Count on Joschka to be at any anti-American proceeding.
Masri is also pursuing a compensation claim against the CIA in US courts. He is one of the best-known cases of the "extraordinary renditions" undertaken by the CIA as part of US anti-terror efforts.
Posted by: tipper 2007-01-31
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=179212