Germany Charges 13 CIA Operatives in el-Masri Rendition Probe

On January 31, 2007, a German court issued an arrest warrant for 13 persons linked to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) mistaken kidnapping of Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent. The German investigation is the second in which European prosecutors have brought charges against CIA employees allegedly involved in U.S. counterterrorism operations. Italian prosecutors have charged 25 CIA operatives and a U.S. Air Force officer with kidnapping an Islamic cleric on a Milan street in 2003. The cleric was subsequently brought to Cairo, Egypt, where he alleges that he was tortured ... [more]