Romania denies air base used as CIA prison

Romanian aviation officials and the military denied reports today that the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in south-east Romania was used by the CIA as a detention facility for suspected terrorists.

The Kogalniceanu base, near the Black Sea port city of Constanta, was used by the US to transit troops and equipment during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The US military evacuated its remaining forces in June 2003.

“When the Americans were here there were so many civilians working there, people would have found out about it,” said Dan Buciuman, the base commander.

The base, which extends over about 800 acres, has since been used for joint military exercises with the US, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Britain. The US is expected to take it over later this year to stage training exercises.

Human Rights Watch in New York said Thursday it had evidence indicating the CIA transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to the Szymany Airport in Poland and the Kogalniceanu base.

The conclusion is based on an analysis of flight logs of CIA aircraft from 2001 to 2004 obtained by the group. Both Poland and Romania have denied they hosted such detention centres.

Human Rights Watch said it matched the flight patterns of the CIA aircraft with testimony from some of the hundreds of detainees in the war on terrorism who have been released by the US.

The head of the International Mihail Kogalniceanu airport, where planes carrying detainees are alleged to have landed, gave AP computerised flight logs with details of all landings between 2003-2005.

“It would be practically impossible for them to land here without a record because we operate by international rules and we are part of an international network of aeronautical information,” said Cornel Balan, the director of the airport, which serves both civilian and military planes. ”These records cannot be erased or altered.”

At the nearby air base, officers reacted with disbelief to the allegations that Kogalniceanu’s facilities were used to keep secret CIA prisoners.

“It’s incredible what is being said and to remove all doubts we have decided to open our doors, so that anyone can see that we have no detention facilities,” said Lt Cmdr Adrian Vasile, a spokesman for the base.

The base, awaiting new owners, appears deserted. The Pentagon wants to use it for training and quick deployments. The US military has made repairs and upgraded the base, which includes troop accommodation facilities and about 140 small administrative buildings.