Macedonia sued over alleged CIA abduction

BERLIN, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Lawyers for a German national have sued Macedonia, claiming that Khaled El Masri was handed over to the CIA and sent to a secret prison in Afghanistan.

"This lawsuit is possibly the last opportunity for Khaled El Masri to receive justice," said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. "Macedonia has a chance to step up and show that it will not tolerate complicity in human rights violations by its security services."

The group said a report by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that El Masri had received $65,000 in damages from Macedonia was incorrect.

Goldston said that El Masri was detained at the border between Serbia and Macedonia in 2003. He was sent to Kabul after being held for 23 days without any opportunity to communicate with the outside world.

After several months of interrogation in Afghanistan, including torture, he was freed and simply dumped by the side of a road in Albania, Goldston said.

The Justice Initiative has also filed lawsuits against the United States, Germany and Albania, Goldston said. The one in the United States was dismissed on procedural grounds after being heard by the Supreme Court.

Germany has opened a criminal investigation into El Masri's abduction but has declined to try to extradite U.S. CIA agents, Goldston said.