German prosecutors want to try CIA agents

MUNICH, Germany, June 26 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Germany want to try 13 U.S. intelligence agents who allegedly kidnapped a German citizen in 2003.

The German case is the second in Europe to focus attention on the controversial U.S. "extraordinary rendition" practice under which terror suspects arrested in one country can be transported to one with fewer prisoner rights for questioning. A trial of 26 CIA agents in Italy is on hold.

In Munich, prosecutors demanded the extradition of 13 CIA agents accused of kidnapping Khaled el-Masri, Deutsche Welle reported.

The prosecutors had the approval of the German cabinet, Deutsche Welle reported. A court ordered the agents' arrest earlier in the year, but German officials needed time to investigate the Americans' names, Deutsche Welle reported.

El-Masri said he was taken to Afghanistan after his arrest and tortured. He said his arrest was a mistake and that he'd been wrongly accused of being an associate of the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers, Deutsche Welle reported.

The 26 agents charged in Italy were being tried in absentia because the CIA refused to send them to the trial. That trial has been suspended while the government appeals prosecutors' right to bring charges.