EU: No "hard evidence" in Macedonia probe |
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| BorisVM | By Kole Casule SKOPJE (Reuters) - EU lawmakers probing the alleged CIA abduction of a German man said on Friday they had found no "hard evidence" he had been detained in Macedonia, but could not say for sure that this had not happened. European Parliament investigative team probing the case of Kuwaiti-born Khaled el-Masri received confirmation for the first time that he had stayed at a hotel in the Macedonian capital Skopje for the first 23 days of 2004 "So we have an additional question," Claudio Fava, the Italian MEP heading the probe, told reporters in the Macedonian capital. "Who paid the bill?" The investigators plan to visit the hotel on Saturday. Masri claims he was pulled from a bus and detained on the Macedonia border on December 31, 2003. He told investigators he was held by Macedonian guards in a hotel and flown by the CIA to Afghanistan, where he was jailed as a terrorism suspect before being dumped without explanation in May 2004 in Albania. Rights groups say his is among the best known examples of U.S. "extraordinary rendition" -- the practice of secretly transferring terrorist suspects to third countries where, the groups say, they may face abuse or torture. A six-member European Parliament team arrived in the Balkan country on Thursday to probe Skopje's involvement in the case, part of a wider investigation launched in January into secret prisoner transfers and illegal detentions by the CIA in Europe. Fava said the Macedonian authorities, who acknowledge holding Masri for several hours at the border before releasing him, had provided some answers. "But not all the answers we expected from them." "It's true we did not get hard evidence about the fact that Masri was kidnapped and detained here for 23 days. But we haven't either obtained any hard evidence that this is not true," he said. PASSPORT STAMP Macedonian Interior Minister Ljubomir Mihailovski, whose country is pursuing membership talks with the EU and is a military ally of the U.S. in Iraq, disputed claims Masri left by plane as "pure speculation." The EU investigators say his passport contains a stamp from Skopje airport dated January 23, 2004, the day his lawyer alleges he was flown to Kabul via Baghdad. According to Mihailovski, Masri exited at the main border crossing with Kosovo, Serbia's southern U.N.-run province. "We had a good discussion and we hope that finally it will be made clear that there is no case involving Macedonian security agencies," he said. "There are no indications that foreign intelligence agencies, ie. the CIA, were involved in this case." The EU team leaves on Saturday after a visit to the hotel where Masri says he was held, beaten and interrogated. In a report on the committee's findings so far, Fava said on Wednesday that more than 1,000 secret flights operated by the CIA had transited through the EU since 2001. Masri is suing former CIA chief George Tenet and other officials for wrongful imprisonment and torture. Washington has declined public comment on the case. But U.S. officials have acknowledged that Masri was held, initially on suspicion of having a false passport and because he had the same name as a wanted militant, and later freed for lack of evidence. |
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| achtung_panzer | Ne e bitno shto i dali voopshto NESHTO kje najde taa komisija, dali kje donese nekakov (bilo kakov) zakluchok, bitno e da se zbori za EU, demek eve tie neshto burichkaat i tie se nekakov faktor. Nekoj treba da naplati dnevnici razbirash, pa ekspertizi, analizi, lizni-mazni, avtorski prava na idni knigi/memoari/novinski feljtoni... samata premisa "libanec so germanski pasosh uapsen vo Makedonija od CIA" zvuchi dovolno egzotichno, temno i nerazjasnivo, kako scenario za Bornov Identitet III-ti del. E sega shto zapnale na nas, pa nema da lichi na primer na tapet da ja stavat edna Romanija, Bugarija ili nekoja od baltichkite drzhavi- novopecheni EU chlenki koga samite briselski ushtvi deklarirale deka tie zemji se daleku pozreli od Makedonija za EU chlenstvo, da istrazhuvaat tamu (a niz tie kraishta ima MNOGU povekje materijal otkolku vo Makedonija) e isto kako da mochaat sproti veter, vaka nivnata balkanska bokserska vrekja otrpnala na mavanje pa ushte eden boks nema da promeni mnogu... barem vo odjavnata shpica da ne' pishat "Makedonija", bez firomisuvanje... | ||||
| Satanico Pandemonium | Fakt e deka CIA od EU ima letano mnogupati i praeno i mnogu polosi raboti. Tie vsusnost bar zapadna Evropa si ja imaa kako Amerikanska teritorija i pravea sto sakaa tamu. Prasanjeto e zosto sega odednas CIA istraga? Ocigledno e deka Evropa se konfrontira so USA , nesto nezamislivo pred 10tina godini. Makedonija e samo povod, neznachaen, celtta e druga, da se namali vlijanieto na USA. A nastrana sto El-masri e eptem somnitelen, nezaposlen Germanec (Arap po poteklo), dosol sam za Nova Godina vo Skopje so 200 Evra vo dzepot, pritoa posetil Kosovo... |
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| concrete |
....i platil diskreten extra hotel 2000 evra, bez da izleze od soba ( koj li samo mu ja platil zenskata , koja verojatno bila fantasticna......pa da ne izlezes 20 dena od soba mora da e barem tolku, ako ne i poveke od toa :):):)!!! Kaza be Kampfpanzer , za nisaj vrata zemaj plata se raboti....kolku li samo me potsetuvaa ovaa EU na starata dobra Yuga:):):)!!! |
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| Satanico Pandemonium |
A be tie stalno mozat da izmislat nesto za da ja nisaat vratata ako im e do praenje nesto. Neka odat vo Sudan i resavaat svetski katastrofi i humanitarno se dokazuvaat. Ili Gruzija, Moldavija koja im e predvrata. Ili neka otvaraat radia Voice of Europe za Belorusija. No ne, vo ovoj slucaj ja nisaat vratata protiv CIA i opasno se fatile za nea. Se drzat i go podrzuvaat somnitelniot El-Masri koj go tuzi Tenet. Prilicno ozbilno nisanje. Vo bivsa Jugoslavija site nisaa, no na nikogo na pamet ne mu pagjase da se konfrontira so nekoj raboti za koj nikogas zbor ne stanuvase. Sekogas imase granica. Ova e nesto novo, nov fenomen. Amerika veke nemoze tek taka od Evropa se da dobie i bez da prasa. |
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| nukleus | Jas ne znam shto se kleckaat so taa EU komisija?Pa sekako go odlozija priemot za vo 2020 i ednostavno treba otvoreno da nastapime i na Amerikancite da im se predlozi Idrizovo da go pretvorat vo US-zatvor za Evropa.Znaci Amerikancite nema da se izlozuvaat na troshok i da letaat so "ilegalni" avioni po Evropa koga moze site somnitelni da gi piknat vo Idrizovo.Kondoliza ke si patuva nasmeana niz Evropa i nema da ima nezgodni prashanja koga ke se znae deka zatvorenicite im se vo edna zemja koja nema shansi da stane clenka na EU. | ||||