EU to ask US for clarification on alleged CIA camps

BRUSSELS - EU member states have agreed to send a joint letter to the US government, asking for clarification about the alleged existence of CIA interrogation camps on EU territory.

Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot told journalists on Monday (21 November) that the UK presidency will draw up the letter to the US administration on behalf of EU states.

A UK presidency spokesman said the letter will be sent out by UK foreign minister Jack Straw "in the coming days".

The EU wants Washington to clarify media and NGO reports that its intelligence branch, the CIA, has detained top Al Qaeda suspects somewhere in eastern Europe.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month on the existence of the camps, with leading NGO Human Rights Watch subsequently earmarking EU member state Poland and candidate state Romania as likely locations for the camps.

"If these reports were true, it is better that there is clarity", the Dutch minister said, adding that too many stories were "singing around" over the topic.

Mr Bot said the letter would also state that the EU would be "concerned" if the reports were found to be correct.

The move by EU governments follows criticism of too little action being taken by Brussels in this matter, with the commission shrugging off calls for a thorough investigation into the camps.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of reports have emerged in the European press on CIA planes using European airports to carry terror suspects.

The latest reports come from the Netherlands and Malta.

Dutch media report that a plane known to be used by the CIA was standing at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport for two days last week.

The Dutch foreign ministry is examining the matter, with the Dutch opposition demanding assurances that Dutch airports are not being used for the transport of prisoners by the CIA.

The Maltese Independent writes that two CIA planes, known to be implicated in the practice of "rendition" (the kidnapping of terror suspects), have made stopovers in Malta.

Similar reports emerged last week in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, while a Spanish national court is set to investigate whether the CIA was routing planes through the island of Majorca.