Rice mum on 'secret prisons'
2005-12-05 14:58
Washington - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turned the tables on European critics of tough United States tactics in the war on terror on Monday, maintaining that intelligence gathered by the CIA has saved European lives.
Responding for the first time in detail to the outcry over reports of secret CIA-run prisons in European democracies, Rice said the United States "will use every lawful weapon to defeat these terrorists."
But in remarks as she prepared to leave on a trip to Europe, she steadfastly refused to answer the underlying question of whether the United States had CIA-operated secret prisons there.
"We cannot discuss information that would compromise the success of intelligence, law enforcement, and military operations. We expect other nations share this view," Rice said in a statement at suburban Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.
Trans-Atlantic uproar
The secretary said that information gathered by US intelligence agencies from a "very small number of extremely dangerous detainees," has helped prevent terrorist attacks and saved lives "in Europe as well as in the United States and other countries."
Reports of the existence of the secret prisons has caused a trans-Atlantic uproar. The European Union has asked the Bush administration about these reports.
Britain, which holds the revolving presidency of the EU, sent a two-paragraph letter to Washington late last month embodying the request. That came after weeks of increasing concern in Europe over reports that the CIA has detained and interrogated terrorism prisoners in Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe.
She said the United States does not permit or tolerate torture under any circumstances. "The United States does not use the air space or airport of any country for the purpose of transporting a detainee when we believe he or she will be tortured," Rice said. "With respect to detainees, the United States government complies with its laws, its Constitution and its treaty obligations," she added.
"It is the policy of the United States that this questioning is to be conducted ... without torture," Rice said.
"The United States has fully respected the sovereignty of other countries that have cooperated in these matters," the secretary said. "The United States is a country of laws. My colleagues and I have been sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." ...The United States must protect its citizens."
- AP