Rice turns tables on EU torture critics

SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice turned the tables on European critics of tough US tactics in the war on terror yesterday, maintaining that intelligence gathered by the CIA has saved European as well as American lives.

Responding for the first time in detail to the outcry over reports of secret CIA-run prisons in European democracies, Ms Rice said the United States “will use every lawful weapon to defeat these terrorists.” However, in remarks delivered as she got ready to leave on a trip to Europe, she steadfastly refused to answer the underlying question of whether the United States had CIA-operated secret prisons there.

“We cannot discuss information that would compromise the success of intelligence, law enforcement, and military operations. We expect other nations share this view,” Ms Rice said in a statement at suburban Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.