POLAND: Poland's president Alexander Kwasniewski has insisted yesterday that Poland had never played host to secret CIA prisons for al-Qaeda suspects, as near neighbours Romania and Bulgaria pressed ahead with deals to station US troops on their territory.
Mr Kwasniewski's denial came amid persistent allegations that US agents held terror suspects at remote air bases in Poland and Romania, and the emergence of flight records showing that CIA-operated planes made dozens of landings across Europe.
"There was never that type of prison and there never will be," Mr Kwasniewski said. "I am certain that no Al-Qaeda prisoners were ever held in Poland."
He also dismissed as false a report on US channel ABC news that 11 high-ranking members of the terror network were held until recently in Poland.
"This news is all the more improbable as, unlike Germany, Poland has no US bases - extra-territorial sites to which we would not have access and where the US could act freely," he said.
"Obviously, there is some co-operation between the US and Polish secret services, but I am sure that when they work together, it is always with the greatest respect for the law."
Officials from the Council of Europe rights watchdog are seeking access to satellite images of air bases in Poland and Romania to check for signs of a detention centre.
Romania has also denied knowledge of any such facility. It signed a deal with Washington this week to allow US troops to establish permanent bases in the Black Sea country, which the Pentagon values for its relative proximity to the Middle East. Neighbouring Bulgaria has also confirmed that plans to host US troops are at an advanced stage.
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