US ‘held prisoners in Europe illegally’

A EUROPEAN investigator said yesterday he has mounting indications that the US illegally held detainees in Europe - then hurriedly shipped out the last ones to North Africa when word leaked out.

Dick Marty, a Swiss senator looking into claims that the CIA operated secret prisons in Europe, did not offer details about the suspected detentions beyond what already was reported by a human rights group, an alleged former detainee and news reports.

A one-month investigation, Mr Marty said, had unearthed “clues” that Poland and Romania were implicated, perhaps unwittingly.