EU parliament may question CIA officials
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-14 10:56

European Union lawmakers said Monday they were looking into the possibility of questioning senior CIA and Bush administration officials as part of their investigation into whether the U.S. held terror suspects at secret prisons in Europe.

Some deputies acknowledged that the European Parliament cannot subpoena U.S. officials to testify, however, and suggested sending a delegation to the United States to speak with officials there.

One of the EU lawmakers, British Liberal Democratic Sarah Ludford, said they could also seek to speak with former members of U.S. or other intelligence services who might be able to help their inquiry, which so far is relying largely on unconfirmed press reports.

Allegations the CIA hid and interrogated key al-Qaida suspects at Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe were first reported Nov. 2 in The Washington Post. The 732-member EU legislature agreed two weeks ago to launch its own investigation. A separate inquiry is also being conducted by the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights watchdog.

"We need to check who in the American administration would be willing to cooperate," said Giovanni Claudio Fava, an Italian Socialist. Previously, EU deputies suggested Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could be asked to testify.

Human Rights Watch has said it has circumstantial evidence indicating the CIA transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania. Both countries have denied the claims.

In addition to the allegations of secret prisons, there are also claims that CIA officials traveled through European territory while transporting terror suspects to countries where they faced harsh interrogation methods and possibly torture — a practice known as "extraordinary rendition."

Such actions would breach the human rights treaties that all 25 EU countries have signed up to.

A preliminary report by the Council of Europe accused European governments of ignoring human rights breaches. But the report failed to uncover tangible evidence proving clandestine detention centers existed in Romania or Poland.

Swiss Sen. Dick Marty, who drafted the council's report, said more than 100 suspects may have been transferred by U.S. agents to countries where they faced ill treatment.

"We need to talk with these people," Fava said.