U.S. help sought in German rendition case

BERLIN, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Germany has officially asked the United States to assist in arresting 13 people in the alleged CIA-backed kidnapping of a German citizen.

The German Ministry of Justice made an official request to the United States, asking authorities to assist in the arrest of Central Intelligence Agency suspects in the alleged kidnapping of Khaled el-Masri, a Lebanese-born German citizen, Deutsche Welle reported Friday

Arrest warrants were issued in January for the CIA suspects, whom Masri accuses of abducting him from Skopje, Macedonia, on New Year's Eve 2003. He claims he was taken to Afghanistan, where he was drugged and tortured for information before being released five months later.

Masri filed a lawsuit in the United States against the U.S. government but it was tossed out by an appeals court on national security grounds.