Romania denies presence of CIA prisons

Bucharest says it has written to the European Union executive denying the secret CIA prison charges. Romania is one of the countries accused by Europe's top human rights watchdog of hosting secret CIA jails used to interrogate Islamist terrorism suspects. Romania denies presence of CIA prisons The letter to the European Commission is a response to a request from EU justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini asking Romania and Poland - the other country implicated by the Council of Europe - for an explanation. A Romanian spokeswoman in Brussels, Doris Mircea, said that a committee of inquiry set up by the government concluded that the allegations that Romania hosted such secret prisons between 2003 and 2005 were unfounded. "No person was kept illegally as a prisoner within Romanian jails and no illegal transfer of detainees passed through Romanian jails and illegal transfer of detainees passed through Romanian territory," Mircea said. Poland has not replied to Frattini. In June, however, former Polish president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, denied there had been any kind of secret CIA prisons in Poland or that there had been any discussion of the matter. The Council of Europe report, led by Swiss senator Dick Marty, implicated 14 countries - including Italy - of collusion in a '"lobal spider's web" involving detentions and illegal flight transfers of terrorism suspects, known as "extraordinary renditions". The Council of Europe report in June said there was enough evidence to support suspicions that CIA secret prisons were established in Poland and Romania. Media allegations on CIA jails broke last November, when the Washington Post newspaper said the intelligence agency had sent more than 100 people to secret jails known as "black sites" that were set up following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. A separate enquiry by the European Parliament into 'extraordinary rendition' in January concluded that in the four years following al-Qaeda's 11 September 2001 attacks on the U.S., the CIA carried out 1,245 covert flights via Europe, the report said. Governments had turned a "blind eye" to secret U.S. flights carrying terrorism suspects across Europe, the report found. It highlighted insufficient parliamentary oversight of European security services.

Romania denies presence of CIA prisons

The letter to the European Commission is a response to a request from EU justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini asking Romania and Poland - the other country implicated by the Council of Europe - for an explanation.

A Romanian spokeswoman in Brussels, Doris Mircea, said that a committee of inquiry set up by the government concluded that the allegations that Romania hosted such secret prisons between 2003 and 2005 were unfounded.

"No person was kept illegally as a prisoner within Romanian jails and no illegal transfer of detainees passed through Romanian jails and illegal transfer of detainees passed through Romanian territory," Mircea said.

Poland has not replied to Frattini. In June, however, former Polish president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, denied there had been any kind of secret CIA prisons in Poland or that there had been any discussion of the matter.

The Council of Europe report, led by Swiss senator Dick Marty, implicated 14 countries - including Italy - of collusion in a '"lobal spider's web" involving detentions and illegal flight transfers of terrorism suspects, known as "extraordinary renditions".

The Council of Europe report in June said there was enough evidence to support suspicions that CIA secret prisons were established in Poland and Romania.

Media allegations on CIA jails broke last November, when the Washington Post newspaper said the intelligence agency had sent more than 100 people to secret jails known as "black sites" that were set up following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

A separate enquiry by the European Parliament into 'extraordinary rendition' in January concluded that in the four years following al-Qaeda's 11 September 2001 attacks on the U.S., the CIA carried out 1,245 covert flights via Europe, the report said.

Governments had turned a "blind eye" to secret U.S. flights carrying terrorism suspects across Europe, the report found. It highlighted insufficient parliamentary oversight of European security services.