We Don't Outsource Torture, Says Bush
We don't outsource torture, says Bush
http://www.theage.com.au/news/war-on...829620139.html
December 7, 2005 - 11:04AM
The US is seeking to reassure allies over its handling of terrorism suspects as Germany seeks answers over the treatment of German citizen Khaled el-Masri, who claims he was was jailed by the CIA for five months when mistaken for another man.
The issue arose as US President George Bush said the United States did not secretly move terrorism suspects to foreign countries that torture to obtain information.
In Italy, prosecutors and judges have issued arrest warrants against 22 alleged CIA operatives, accusing them of kidnapping.
The process, known as "rendition'', has come under the spotlight after reports that the CIA was operating secret prisons in Europe for terrorism suspects.
"We do not render to countries that torture, that has been our policy and that policy will remain the same,'' Bush told reporters.
In a rare concession to critics of US policy, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conceded today that Washington may make mistakes in its war against terrorism and promised to put them right if they happened.
But her efforts to present a united front with European allies hit a bump when US officials took issue with comments by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sensitive case of a German national who says he was abducted by the CIA.
Merkel told a joint news conference with Rice in Berlin that the United States had acknowledged it made a mistake in the case of Khaled el-Masri, who says he was flown to Afghanistan by US agents and jailed for five months last year before being freed.
Masri is suing the CIA for wrongful imprisonment but was refused entry to the United States on Saturday.
"I'm pleased to say that we spoke about the individual case, which was accepted by the United States as a mistake . . .,'' Merkel said in response to questions about the Masri case, which has caused a furore in Germany.
But senior US officials, travelling to Romania with Rice on the next leg of her European tour, said Rice had not admitted a US mistake over Masri.
The US government had informed Germany about his detention and release but did not say that was a mistake, one senior administration official told reporters.
The differences marred the first stage of a delicate European mission by Rice, under pressure to respond to allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency has run secret prisons in eastern Europe and covertly transferred terrorist suspects across the continent.
In a sign that she could expect tough questions from other European nations later in the week, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot told his lower house of parliament that the US response to the allegations had been unsatisfactory.
The answers Rice had given were "not satisfactory'' and he expected a "lively discussion with Rice and foreign ministers of NATO member states on Thursday in Brussels'', the Dutch news agency ANP said.
Rice refused to publicly discuss individual cases but acknowledged in general that mistakes could happen.
"Any policy will sometimes result in errors, and when it happens, we will do everything we can to rectify it,'' Rice said.
A US civil liberties group on filed a lawsuit on Masri's behalf today against former CIA director George Tenet and other officials, alleging wrongful imprisonment.
The US official with Rice said Masri was released from an Afghan prison after Washington realised it "no longer had evidence or intelligence to justify his continued detention''.
Asked if the United States had ever had evidence to hold Masri, he declined to comment further.
Rice did not directly address allegations over reports the United States had run secret prisons to hold terrorism suspects in eastern Europe, possibly in Romania and Poland, which Washington has refused to confirm or deny.
But she defended US methods in the struggle against militants.
"If you don't get to them before they commit their crimes, they will commit mass murder,'' she said.
President Bush reiterated that the United States did not torture.
"I don't talk about secret programs, covert programs, covert activities.
Part of a successful war on terror is for the United States of America to be able to conduct operations, all aimed to protect the American people covertly,'' Bush said.
"We abide by the law of the United States, that we do not torture,'' he said.
"We will try to do everything we can to protect us within the law.''
