Fresh Details Emerge Of Romania's Alleged Role In CIA Rendition Flights

Romania's precise role is a little-reported part of the system that is being slowly revealed, often to the chagrin of U.S. allies. In an embarrassing reversal after years of denial, Britain admitted Thursday that its military outpost on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia had twice been used as a refuelling stop for the secret transport of terrorism suspects. The European Commission on Friday accused Poland and Romania of dodging its requests to clarify their involvement. Both countries deny accusations of wrongdoing, including a report by Dick Marty, a Swiss official working for the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog, who accused the CIA of running secret prisons in the two countries. Prisoners typically were shackled and kept naked and in isolation, he alleged, in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Such treatment also would run contrary to Romania's own laws and its commitment to human rights, a key condition to the Balkan country's 2007 accession to the European Union. According to the Romanian official: - U.S. pilots routinely filed bogus flight plans - or none at all - and headed to undeclared destinations. - C-130 Hercules cargo planes and other U.S. military aircraft arriving from Iraq regularly parked in a restricted area just off the runway, where they feigned technical trouble and sat under guard for days at a time - awaiting repairs that never occurred. - Three buildings on the military portion of the airbase were strictly off-limits to Romanians but were frequented and controlled by the Americans. ... http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2008/02/23/4871694-ap.html

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