Two threaten to sue in CIA flights row

TWO members of the European Parliament are warning of legal action over accusations they cooperated with the CIA over secret prisons.

Poland’s former national security adviser Marek Siwiec and Romania’s former defence minister Ioan Pascu are seeking to have their names removed from a Council of Europe report into illegal detentions.

They attacked the report’s author Dick Marty, who had raised the issue with the European Parliament’s special CIA committee.

Both MEPs have given him seven days to remove their names from his report or face legal action.

Mr Marty insisted that the details were factual and all based on information received from a number of different sources, including CIA agents, who disagreed with the Bush administration.

Many of the details were already revealed by the White House. Mr Marty insisted US President George Bush will reveal more details shortly.

Swiss lawyer Mr Marty, a member of the human rights body the Council of Europe, detailed how authorities in Romania and Poland cooperated with the CIA in setting up secret prisons to detain terror suspects in both countries.

Mr Marty gave details of how the presidents of both European countries, along with a select few senior politicians, allowed the CIA complete freedom to carry out activities in both countries.

Romania’s former defence minister, MEP Mr Pascu accused Mr Marty of putting him on a blacklist during the debate in the Parliament yesterday.

Mr Marty said his report was not an accusation but a carefully cross-referenced detailing of how Europe’s governments had set aside normal democratic procedures and civil rights. He also challenged the countries to now tell the truth.

The European Parliament, which issued its own report saying 14 countries had participated with the CIA in their illegal operations, called on the European Council — that represents EU member states and the European Commission — to investigate the reports.