http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060110/ap_on_re_eu/eu_cia_secret_prisons
By JAN SLIVA, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jan 10, 12:29 PM ET
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The head of a European investigation into alleged
CIA prisons in Europe said Tuesday the purported Egyptian government
document naming countries where such prisons existed is a new lead
which must be followed up.
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But ***** Marty, a Swiss senator leading the probe on behalf of the
Council of Europe, said it was still not clear that the document - a
fax reportedly sent by satellite transmission from Egypt's Foreign
Ministry to its embassy in London - was genuine.
The document's existence was reported Sunday by the Swiss weekly
SonnstagsBlick. The fax, intercepted Nov. 15 by Swiss intelligence,
reportedly said Egypt had confirmed through its own sources that the
U.S. intelligence agency had held 23 terror suspects from Iraq and
Afghanistan at a military base in Romania.
It also said there were similar U.S. detention centers in Ukraine,
Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria, according to the Swiss newspaper, which
printed a copy of a Swiss summary of the fax.
Marty also said he wondered how Swiss intelligence intercepted a fax
allegedly sent from Egypt to London. "It's the first time these
allegations come directly from an Arab country," he said.
The Strasbourg, France-based Council of Europe began its investigation
after allegations surfaced in November that U.S. agents interrogated
key al-Qaida suspects at clandestine prisons in Eastern Europe and
transported some suspects to other countries via Europe.
New York-based Human Rights Watch identified Romania and Poland as
possible sites of secret U.S.-run detention facilities. Both countries
have denied involvement.
European officials say secret prisons would violate the continent's
human rights laws. Marty is to present his findings to the council's
parliamentary assembly later this month.
In Bern, The Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday opened an
investigation into the leak.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office is investigating a possible breach of
official secrets by the editor of SonntagsBlick as well as two
journalists at the newspaper, Prosecutor's spokesman Hansjuerg Mark
Wiedmer told The Associated Press.
Publishing a secret document can be a violation of Swiss law punishable
by a fine or imprisonment. Switzerland's Defense Ministry has already
launched an investigation into the leak.
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Associated Press Writer Daniel Friedli contributed to this story from
Bern, Switzerland
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