German Prosecutors Seeking Justice From US Operatives

Warrants Issued for 13 CIA Operatives in Germany Kidnapping

Somebody within the German governmental hierarchy has awakened to the violation of German and international laws. I would hope that our own leaders would realize that if we fail to turn over the operative involved we open up ourselves to the same sort of treatment by not only European nations, but any nation that seeks revenge upon us.

What kind of freedom do we advocate when we act outside of the law?

German prosecutors on Wednesday said they have issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA operatives suspected of kidnapping a German citizen in the Balkans in 2004 and taking him to a secret prison in Afghanistan before realizing several months later that they had the wrong person.

The German arrest warrants, filed in Munich, are the second case in which prosecutors have filed criminal charges against CIA employees involved in counterterrorism operations in Europe. European investigators acknowledge that it is highly unlikely the U.S. spies -- most of whom worked undercover or using false identities -- would ever be handed over to face trial. But the prosecutions have strained U.S.-European relations and underscored deep differences over how to fight terrorism.

Italian prosecutors have also issued arrest warrants for 25 CIA operatives and a U.S. Air Force officer, alleging that they kidnapped an Egyptian-born radical cleric off the streets of Milan in 2003 and took him to Cairo, where he claims he was tortured. A court in Milan is presently considering whether to press ahead with indictments of the CIA officers and try them in absentia later this year.

Christian Schmidt-Sommerfeld, the chief prosecutor in Munich, said 13 CIA operatives were wanted on charges of kidnapping and inflicting bodily harm on Khaled el Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent. Masri has said he was detained by border guards while en route to a holiday in Macedonia and was handed over in January 2004 to the CIA, which secretly flew him to Afghanistan and interrogated him about his alleged ties to Islamic radicals in Germany.

After five months in captivity, Masri was flown back to the Balkans and dumped on a hillside in Albania. German prosecutors were skeptical at first after he came to them with a bizarre-sounding story about how he was kidnapped, but they later corroborated many parts of his account.

At a news conference in Augsburg, Germany, Masri's attorney called the arrest warrants "a great success" and said his client was "very satisfied" with the outcome of the investigation.

Yet the attorney, Manfred Gnjidic, said he realized it was doubtful that German authorities would be able to track down any of the suspects and bring them to trial.