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| Europe | ||
| Germany gives up on extradition attempts | ||
| 2007-09-23 | ||
| Germany has given up efforts to extradite 13 suspected CIA agents from the United States in connection with the kidnapping a German citizen in 2003, the Justice Ministry says. Earlier this year, a Munich court ordered the arrest of the 13 on suspicion of kidnapping Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent who says he was flown from Macedonia to Afghanistan where he was imprisoned for months and tortured. The chief prosecutor for the Bavarian state capital made a formal request to the German federal government in Berlin that it ask Washington to extradite the 13 to Germany for trial. But US officials have refused to meet the demand. "The Americans have said quite clearly they will not extradite," a Justice Ministry spokeswoman said.
The Masri case has focused media attention on CIA kidnappings of suspected terrorists for interrogation in third countries. The practice, called "extraordinary rendition", has caused tensions inside Germany, and between Berlin and Washington. The abduction and interrogation of Murat Kurnaz, a German-born Turk, also put the CIA and Germany's links with the organisation under scrutiny. Kurnaz was captured in 2001 and held for 4 and a half years at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. Especially damning was Kurnaz's unconfirmed allegation that German troops in Afghanistan had participated in his abuse.
Despite media scrutiny of the two cases, analysts say German cooperation with the CIA is close, with Berlin and Washington working together to fight terrorism. | ||
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 As for believing anything a muslim says about capture, torture, and "innocence", I guess some people haven't read the Al-Qaida manual closely enough, and are still gullible to muslim deceit. All taqiyya, all the time. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-23 16:10 |
| #2 Germany under Schroeder was one of those countries that refused to accept that Al Qaida had declared war against the West, and also refused to cooperate with the US on capturing terrorist suspects. Now their nose is out of joint because we (the US) went ahead without their expressed permission. Tough! The US should scale back its presence in Germany to the bare minimum, and let the Germans take over providing their own defense. As for believing anything a muslim says about capture, torture, and "innocence", I guess some people haven't read the Al-Qaida manual closely enough, and are still gullible to muslim deceit. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-09-23 15:52 |
| #1 Neither is "innocent". Masri is connected with that infamous (now closed) Islamic center in Neu-Ulm (which had serious connections with Atta), and Kurnaz had a most suspicious and unexplained stay in Pakistan. |
| Posted by: Throse Turkeyneck4039 2007-09-23 14:56 |