At midnight on an autumn night two years ago, a Boeing passenger plane with seven people carrying US passports touched down at a little-used airport deep in the pine forests of north-eastern Poland, officials say.

European Union human rights chiefs and the Red Cross are to investigate claims that the CIA set up secret jails in eastern Europe and elsewhere to interrogate al-Qaida suspects.

Allegations that the CIA set up secret jails in eastern Europe and elsewhere to interrogate al Qaida suspects today triggered a flurry of denials from governments in the former Soviet bloc and prompted European Union officials, the continent’s top human rights organisation and the international Red Cross to investigate.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Baghdad today and praised the work of Iraqis who are stepping forward to help keep peace in their country.