MEMMINGEN, Germany, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A man who claims the CIA kidnapped and tortured him has admitted to charges of arson, serious bodily injury and slander in Germany.

At the start of his trial in the southern German city of Memmingen, Khaled el-Masri admitted to having raced his car into a store and setting fire to it after an argument with sales staff; some months earlier, he beat his truck-driving instructor into the hospital.

Masri's lawyer Manfred Gnjidic argued his client was still suffering from the aftereffects of his extraordinary rendition, and accused the German government of not having given Masri the necessary psychiatric help he needed.

The 44-year-old German-Lebanese man said he was constantly afraid for his life and that he believed the store officials had tried to entrap him.

"I think there exists great interest in having me eliminated," Masri said in a statement to court.