Claim: Important secret prison in Poland

BRUSSELS, June 25 (UPI) -- U.S. intelligence officials say the "most important" secret detention prison established after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was in Szymany, Poland.

Twenty-four current and former CIA officers told The New York Times the prison, a so-called CIA "black site," was established in the country because "Polish officials were eager to cooperate," the EU Observer reported Wednesday.

One officer said Poland also was considered a prime location for the secret prison because "there were no local cultural and religious ties to al-Qaida, making infiltration or attack by sympathizers unlikely."

Among the prisoners who spent time at the prison was al-Qaida operative Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in 2003, the CIA officers said.

Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich reiterated his country's denial that any secret CIA prisons were operated the country.

The non-governmental organization Amnesty International accused European Union member countries of helping the United States cover up what is believed to have been dozens of secret CIA prisons in Europe.