German government confirms list of CIA flights
Germany has a list of more than 400 overflights and landings by planes suspected of being used by the CIA, part of the information it hopes US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will clarify on her visit there, a government spokesman said today.
Ulrich Wilhelm confirmed a weekend report in Der Spiegel magazine that the list – drawn up by air traffic control – showed at least 437 flights had passed over or through Germany. The issue is being taken up by a parliamentary panel examining when the previous German government obtained this information and how much it knew about the operation.
The list constitutes part of the overall information German officials hope Rice will clarify when she meets tomorrow with Chancellor Angela Merkel, Wilhelm told reporters.
“We are hoping that all of the facts will be discussed in the context of the talks,” Wilhelm said, but declined to elaborate.
When news of the list surfaced over the weekend, a government spokesman noted that US-operated flights as such were not unusual under Nato agreements. He noted that a list of aircraft movements would not detail the purpose of such flights or who ordered them.
The parliamentary committee, however, is submitting several “concrete questions” regarding the list, Wilhelm said. Some MPs have raised concerns that allowing German airspace to be used for the transport of prisoners who were to be tortured would violate the nation’s constitution, which bans the abuse of detainees.
Speaking in Washington before her departure today, Rice sought to dispel concerns over the issue, saying the United States does not permit or tolerate torture under any circumstances.
“The US does not use the air space or airport of any country for the purpose of transporting a detainee when we believe he or she will be tortured,” she said.
“With respect to detainees, the US government complies with its laws, its Constitution and its treaty obligations.”
“It is the policy of the US that this questioning is to be conducted … without torture,” Rice said.
Allegations that the CIA ran prisons for al Qaida captives in Eastern Europe and operated clandestine flights for prisoners – using airports in Germany and elsewhere – have cast a new shadow over relations between Europe and the US.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier raised the issue with Rice during a visit last week to Washington.
On Wednesday, Merkel told parliament she was confident “that the American government is taking European concerns seriously and in the near future will clear up the recent reports on apparent CIA prisons and illegal flights".
