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Europe
CIA 'kidnappers' ordered arrested
2007-01-31
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

#8  Why are Spanish authorities so closely involved when the abduction allegedly occured in Macedonia? This whole thing stinks to me.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2007-01-31 13:50  

#7  Wasn't it the German police that released the Munich bombers?
Posted by: Icerigger   2007-01-31 12:54  

#6  Maybe we could work a sorta swap-out program with Germany, We get folks they can"t do anything to, and they come here and get the folks we can"t seem to do anything about.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2007-01-31 10:21  

#5  DV, it disgusts me too. But Landstuhl Med Ctr and Ramstein AB are huge, expensive, and critically located for quickly getting wounded soldiers from the battlefield to top-notch treatment. Pretty much everything else in Germany will soon be drawn down and/or moved to Italy.

It surprises me that this comes out of Bavaria, but besides Germany, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Fwance, Spain, etc. have all been adversarial and obstructionist at one point or another, to impress their EU masters and prove that they're still relevant on the world stage.

These showy little antics rarely go anywhere, and they're not really intended to. Milosevic died in the middle of his trial, still ongoing after 5 full years in European custody. I doubt this will amount to anything either.
Posted by: exJAG   2007-01-31 09:51  

#4  I think another policy change that needs to happen is the immediate withdrawal of troops from Germany (it has been 60+ years, QUAGMIRE!!!) and the expulsion of all German diplomats with the understanding that if Germany continues to issue warrants against Americans, it will be considered a act of war.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-01-31 09:20  

#3  This should result in a change of policy for the US government.

Unless there is a probability that the target individual knows specific information, the operatives should perform a hasty field interrogation, at the conclusion of which they should terminate their interviewee.

If they during their inquiries, they determine that they do indeed have specific knowledge, then they shall be transported to a final destination to ascertain the breadth of that knowledge, after which the interviewee will again be terminated.

But in future, there will be no more "catch and release". If an operational supervisor in the rear or in the field determines that an individual is important enough to detain, then they are also important enough to eliminate.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-01-31 09:10  

#2  Dear German Prosecutor's Office:

Molon Labe.

Liebest Du,
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2007-01-31 08:46  

#1  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.

Come on - everyone knows the CIA uses black helicopters...
Posted by: Raj   2007-01-31 08:24  

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