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| US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (R)
shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Chancellery in
Berlin, December 6, 2005. (Xinhua/Reuters) |
BERLIN, Dec. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Reported secret flights by the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) across Germany dominated talks between German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on
Tuesday.
Kicking off a joint press conference with Rice,
Merkel expressed the will to boost German-US ties, which have been soured since
former German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder strongly opposed the March 2003 US-led
Iraqi war.
The new German chancellor said she and Rice agreed
that Germany and the United States are "close partners and friends."
But the occasion was quickly shifted to the topics of
the alleged CIA flights carrying terrorist suspects across Germany to secret CIA
prisons for interrogation with possible torture.
Both of them tried to play down tensions caused by
the incident.
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.
 |
| US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
(R) talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Chancellery in
Berlin, December 6, 2005.
(Xinhua/Reuters) | German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier will report on the affair to a parliamentary committee,
Merkel said.
As Rice refused to discuss in details with reporters,
Merkel said she believed there were limits to what information could be provided
about the flights.
Rice noted, "We recognize any policy will sometimes
result in errors, and when it happens, we will do everything we can to rectify
it."
She reiterated that the United States "will use every
lawful means" to defend its citizens but does not condone torture.
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), which has threatened to sanction any EU member states
if they allow such prisons to exist on their territories.
The German government confirmed Monday that it had
received a list of 437 CIA flights through Germany.
The Merkel-Rice talks also centered on the case of
Khaled el-Masri, a German national who was wrongly arrested and
 |
| German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier(R) greets US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the Foreign
Ministry in Berlin, December 6, 2005.
(Xinhua/Reuters) | imprisoned by the CIA on
suspicion of links to al Qaeda.
Merkel told reporters that the US side admitted
making a mistake in the case.
"We are talking about one case where the US has
admitted it made a mistake," said Merkel, adding "We have to adhere to the rules
of democracy and democratic principles."
But a surprised Rice replied sharply, "I cannot talk
about the specifics of the el-Masri case."
She stressed that there would be no public
declaration of American guilt from her side.
Rice said that fighting terrorism meant getting to
extremists before they could carry out their crimes.
Khaled el-Masri, who was arrested in Macedonia in
December 2003,claims to have been handed over to US officials before being flown
to Afghanistan.
He was released and returned to Europe five months
later after the CIA found he was the wrong man. A German lawyer representing him
said Tuesday that El-Masri will file a law suit against the CIA in Washington on
Wednesday.
Media here say the CIA flights scandal will
overshadow Rice's five-day European tour, which will also take her to Romania,
Ukraine and Brussels, where she will attend a NATO meeting.
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