KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier Wednesday in parliament strongly condemned claims Berlin had been involved in the kidnapping of a German national by the CIA.
"The German government and the German intelligence services in no way aided in the abduction of Mr. (Khaled) el-Masri," an angry Steinmeier told lawmakers, and added some recent media reports were "outrageous and irresponsible."
El-Masri, a German national of Lebanese descent, has become the poster boy of the scandal surrounding the so-called rendition flights, which is based on allegations that the CIA abducts terror suspects and moves them to secret prisons in third countries, where intelligence is squeezed out of them using torture. Last week, el-Masri filed a suit against former CIA Director George Tenet and 10 "John Doe" interrogators for violating U.S. international laws by authorizing his abduction.
El-Masri claims he was seized by the CIA Dec. 31, 2003 in Macedonia and moved to Afghanistan where he was detained for five months before he was released because the CIA noticed it had the wrong man. El-Masri's lawyer then informed former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's office, at the time headed by Steinmeier.
The freshly appointed foreign minister refuted accusations the government responded passively and inadequately after learning of the case, arguing it had immediately alerted and supported German prosecutors and repeatedly sought explanations from Washington.
"Of the abduction the former Interior Minister (Otto Schily), the former Foreign Minister (Joschka Fischer) and I have learned only after Mr. el-Masri was freed," Steinmeier added, countering media reports that Schily had been informed of the case by then U.S. Ambassador to Berlin, Daniel Coats, when el-Masri still sat in a prison cell in Afghanistan.
Steinmeier vowed Germany would continue to share intelligence with Washington to combat terrorism, albeit not at any price.
"Without deep knowledge of the Islamist scene, we can't adequately protect our citizens," he said. "But one thing is clear: the exchange of information never means approval or justification for the abduction of German citizens."
Steinmeier said he had no information that a German intelligence officer took part in the interrogation in Afghanistan. El-Masri claims he was questioned by an officer with an obvious northern German accent who called himself "Sam."
"From my knowledge Sam stands in no connection with German intelligence," Steinmeier said.
High-ranking members of the new German government, including Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble Wednesday testified about the case to their respective committees.
Zypries said the German justice ministry first learned about the Masri case in June 2004, adding that the German attorney general's office later decided against an investigation, because it lacked sufficient evidence of a politically motivated crime.
"We did everything that was needed," Zypries said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a thorough investigation will be held in a commission overseeing the intelligence services; its findings, however, will stay classified.
The German opposition Wednesday said it wasn't quite satisfied: "Sometimes you have to do more than just refrain from breaking regulations," said Max Stadler, interior expert of the Free Democrats, adding the opposition was considering calling for an open investigation into the case.
The new German government would like to avoid such a public inquiry, as it would seriously hamper any bid to restart the trans-Atlantic friendship so strained under Schroeder.
Steinmeier said he was pleased by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's remarks that the U.S. did not run secret prisons, did not condone torture and nor would it tolerate such practice from U.S. officials all over the world.
However, a new report delivered by a European investigator Tuesday suggests that U.S. agents kidnapped people in European countries and illegally transferred them across the continent. Dick Marty, who leads a Council of Europe investigation into the matter, said his investigation so far had "reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals, without any judicial involvement, in European countries." The alleged host countries have denied the reports.
Meanwhile it surfaced that officers from Germany's Bundeskriminalamt, a federal police agency known as BKA, interrogated the German-Syrian terrorist suspect Mohammed Haidar Zammar in Syria.
Schaeuble confirmed in parliament that BKA officers questioned Zammar in Syria under a "closely coordinated German-Syrian cooperation." He added he had no information that Zammar had been tortured, but knew the BKA officials acted in a "correct manner." According to German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, Zammar is locked up in a secret prison in Damascus, where German intelligence officers questioned him as early as 2002.
A German national since 1982, Zammar is considered to be a high-ranking al-Qaida member and allegedly recruited Mohammed Atta, the pilot of one of the planes that crashed into New York on Sept. 11, 2001.
