EUROPE: CIA prisoners in Europe were apparently abducted and moved between countries illegally, possibly with the aid of national secret services who did not tell their governments, according to the first official report on the so-called "renditions" scandal.
Dick Marty, a Swiss senator investigating allegations of secret CIA prisons for the Council of Europe, said he did not think the US was still holding prisoners in Europe, but had probably moved them to north Africa last month.
Mr Marty said in a statement that his information so far "reinforces the credibility of the allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals, without any judicial involvement, in European countries".
Mr Marty criticised US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice for refusing to confirm or deny allegations, first published in the Washington Post last month, that the CIA maintained secret prisons in Europe.
"The rapporteur . . . deplores the fact that no information or explanation had been provided on this point by Ms Rice during her visit to Europe," he said.