Romania Base Focus of Secret Prison Probe

[Eugene]

Romania Base Focus of Secret Prison Probe

Thursday November 24, 2005 6:16 PM

AP Photo PAR107

By WILLIAM J. KOLE

Associated Press Writer

<snip>

There's not an American in sight, but the sprawling Soviet-era
facility has become a key focus of a European investigation into
allegations the CIA operated secret prisons where suspected terrorists
were interrogated.

Top Romanian leaders and the Pentagon vehemently deny that the Mihail
Kogalniceanu base in the country's southeast ever hosted a covert
detention center, and the Romanians insist the United States never
used it as a transit point for al-Qaida captives.

<snip>

Ioan Mircea Pascu, Romania's defense minister in 2001-2004, told the
AP that parts of Mihail Kogalniceanu were off-limits to Romanian
authorities, and the country's main intelligence agency said it has
no jurisdiction there.

<snip>

On Tuesday, Swiss lawmaker Dick Marty - heading the probe by the
Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog - said
he was trying to acquire past satellite images of the base and
Poland's Szczytno-Szymany airport. Both airfields, Human Rights Watch
has alleged, were likely sites for clandestine CIA prisons.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5436648,00.html

[IndianaGreen]

1. Like the good US lapdogs they have become, Romania is lying

I guess that some countries just like playing the lapdog role, whether their masters are in Moscow or in Washington, DC.

[aquart]

2. not like it so much as they understand the rules.

and they've gotten really good at it.

the thing about living in a dictatorship is you end up with no respect for any law.

[Double T]

3. Bribery money will buy ANYTHING you want......

It is unfortunate that bushco uses American taxpayer funds to maintain such atrocities, hopefully a lot of voters will remember this heinous activity during the next elections for president. It is our job to make sure they don't forget!!!!

[spindrifter]

4. I can't help but think that we may have some black site

activity in Kosovo. Plenty of U.S. military were there--more than in any of the other mentioned places, such as Rumania and Poland.

[henslee]

5. Torture is a tradition in Romania who's atrocities in WWII caused Gestapo

authorites to issue official communcations to the satellite state to tone things down... that thir acts of barbarism were way beyond acceptability and an embarassment to Nazi military codes.

[MisterP]

6. like the UNA-UNSO neo-Nazis in Ukraine who supported Yushchenko

and both Ukraine and Romania are National Endowment for Democracy regimes

[lovuian]

7. Romania it figures!!!

these countries are the ones looking for money and will do anything!!!

[peacetalksforall]

8. Consider deflection... they might have set up active prisons and

arranged to switch attention to a non-active prisons if needed. They have a lot think tanks working for them, though, in general, it appears they are still not good at contingency planning. We had shock and awe, then splat.

[cal04]

9. Satellite images may aid CIA 'secret prisons' probe

Satellite images could help determine if the CIA ran secret prisons in Europe, according to a Swiss lawmaker who is drawing up a report on the issue for leading human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe.

The Washington Post newspaper reported this month the CIA had been interrogating suspected al Qaeda captives at a secret facility in eastern Europe that was part of a covert global prison system with sites in eight countries.

The Council of Europe has opened an investigation into the allegations, which Washington has refused to confirm or deny. EU states agreed on Monday to write a joint letter to the United States seeking clarification about the allegations.

Dick Marty, who hopes to present his report to the council's parliamentary assembly in January, said he had contacted the EU Satellite Center, based in Torrejon de Ardoz in Spain.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-25T114646Z_01_RID540866_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-EUROPE-CIA.xml