Germany orders arrest of 13 CIA operatives

FranchiseBlade · Jan 31, 2007

Too bad that happened to a man. Of course this flies in the face of people who say if you've done nothing wrong, then you don't have anything to worry about.

The poor guy did nothing wrong, but lost 5 months of his life, and was subjected to torture.

BERLIN -- A Munich court has ordered the arrest of 13 U.S. intelligence operatives in connection with the kidnapping and beating of a German citizen who was interrogated for five months at a secret prison in Afghanistan, prosecutors announced today.

The suspects belong to a CIA-sponsored team that allegedly flew Khaled Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, from Macedonia to Afghanistan in January 2004. Each of the accused, all but one of whom were identified only by aliases, were charged with kidnapping and causing serious bodily harm.

Police found a "strong suspicion" that the operatives were involved in Masri's disappearance, said a statement released by the Munich prosecutor's office. "According to the information we have, the suspects listed in the arrest warrants are believed to be so-called code names of CIA agents. The investigation will now focus on learning the actual names of the suspects."

Legal experts said it was unlikely the accused, including four pilots, a medic and members of an operations unit, would appear before a German court. CIA and State Department officials have refused to comment in detail about the Masri case, but the Bush administration has said anti-terror laws allow for such covert operations, known as "extraordinary renditions." U.S. officials have denied allegations of torture.

"As far as I know, the German court has never issued an arrest warrant against 13 CIA officials all at once," said Hans-Christian Stroeble, a member of a parliamentary committee investigating the Masri case. His Greens Party has criticized the renditions program as a violation of human rights. "This is a great success."

The intelligence operatives, most of whom are believed to be Americans, are alleged to have been involved in a mission that loaded a bound and drugged Masri onto a Boeing 737 that flew him from Skopje, Macedonia to Afghanistan in the early morning of Jan. 24, 2004. Masri had been detained weeks earlier by Macedonian security officials when he attempted to cross the Serbian-Macedonian border. He said while in Macedonian custody he was beaten and photographed naked.

German prosecutors were initially skeptical about Masri's tale of disappearing into a hidden dimension in the fight against terrorism and being held for five months of interrogation and abuse until he was released in the mountains of Albania in May 2004. But German authorities said they concluded that the car salesman and father of four was telling the truth.

German officials believe Masri was the victim of mistaken identity: a man with the same name as a suspected terrorist linked to Al Qaeda. Former Interior Minister Otto Shilly has told a German government committee that U.S. officials privately apologized for the abduction.

U.S. authorities never charged Masri with a crime and German prosecutors have criticized Washington for not cooperating with their investigation. German officials allege that the operatives, many of whom live in North Carolina, work for Aero Contractors, which has links to the CIA. The company is connected to Premier Executive Transport Services Inc., which held the registration for the Boeing that transported Masri, according to European aviation documents.

The case has led to questions within the German government. The parliamentary committee is investigating whether German agents were involved in the abduction and why Foreign Minster Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who then oversaw intelligence agencies for the chancellery, did not immediately disclose his knowledge of the affair.

The case, at times, has agitated the improving relationship between Berlin and Washington. In 2005, after a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rise, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was pleased that the Bush administration "admitted this man [Masri] had been erroneously taken."

But a senior U.S. official quickly denied such a characterization, saying that Masri was released because Washington "no longer had evidence or intelligence to justify" his detention.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-ex-cia31jan1,0,6610207.story?coll=la-home-headlines
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Baqui99 · Jan 31, 2007

And with that, another 1000 terrorists are born. Way to go, CIA.

conquistador#11 · Jan 31, 2007

I applaud Germany for taking action.

nyquil82 · Jan 31, 2007

WE CAN'T TAKE THAT RISK, YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME, WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!!!!

Rocket River · Jan 31, 2007

Next time they will just kill him

and no one will know

Rocket river

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