BERLIN, Dec. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday played down tensions over the reported secret flights by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) across Germany.

    Speaking at a joint press conference with Rice, Merkel said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will report on the affair to a parliamentary committee.

    Merkel said she had talked with Rice about the issue while Rice noted that the United States "respects the sovereignty of our partners" in the war on terrorism.

    Rice refused to discuss in details the alleged CIA flights carrying terrorist suspects across Germany to secret CIA prisons for interrogation with possible torture.

    Rice reiterated that the United States "will use every lawful means" to defend its citizens, adding that the U.S. does not condone torture.

    The German government Monday confirmed that it had received a list of 437 CIA flights through Germany in recent years.

    Many European media organizations recently revealed that the CIA had transported terror suspects across Germany to its secret prisons in Eastern European countries in recent years, causing an uproar within the European Union (EU).

    The EU has threatened to sanction any EU member states if they allow such prisons to exist on their territories.

    After Germany, Rice is to travel to Romania and later visit the Ukraine and Brussels, where she will attend a NATO meeting.

    Merkel, who assumed the chancellorship on November 22, has vowed to improve relations with Washington, which had gone sour in recent years. But the CIA secret flight scandal has cast a cloud over her efforts. Enditem