ATHENS (Reuters) 20 min. ago -- A prominent Greek lawyer accused British security forces of illegally detaining Pakistanis living in Greece days after suicide bombings in London in July.

Fragiskos Ragoussis, one of the country's best known criminal lawyers, submitted a file to the Greek parliament on the allegations, automatically triggering a parliamentary investigation.

Ragoussis, who is also a defence attorney for members of Greece's once-feared November 17 leftist guerrilla group, alleged that 28 Pakistani men were arrested, detained up to a week and interrogated on Greek soil by British security officials.

The Liberty Human Rights Group said the Pakistani men were snatched from their homes by plain-clothes men, hooded and abducted for interrogation by persons speaking English fluently.

  «« click on pic to enlarge

The British embassy in Athens refused to comment on the allegations, saying it was a matter for the Greek authorities.

"It is Her Majesty's Government's well established policy not to comment or enter into media speculation about the alleged operations of the UK's security and intelligence services, no matter how far fetched - as it is in this case," it said in a statement.

ROTTERDAM (RNW) Dec. 12 -- A court in Rotterdam gave the green light yesterday for the extradition to the United States of Wesam al Delaema, who was arrested in May this year and faces charges in the US for his alleged involvement in the armed insurgency taking place in Iraq.

If he is indeed handed over to the American authorities - and this depends on the outcome of an appeal - Wesam al Delaema would be the first ever foreigner to stand trial in the US itself on charges relating to terrorist activities in Iraq. Prior to the Rotterdam court ruling, the Dutch authorities obtained the assurance that he will not face the death penalty in the US and that it may be possible for him to serve an eventual prison term in the Netherlands.

BBC News - read full story »»

Cheney's January 2005 trip to Poland to mark the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp may have had a side trip.

Informed sources in Washington report that when Dick Cheney flew to Poland for the 60th anniversary ceremonies marking the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp last January, his three day visit also included a clandestine visit to a secret CIA camp in Poland where suspected "Al Qaeda" prisoners were being subjected to torture.

VP Cheney paid a quick visit to the Auschwitz camp and wrote in the guest book "may the evils committed here never again darken our world." Cheney's personal party included his wife Lynne Cheney, his daughter Elizabeth Cheney, and Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Two weeks after the Polish visit, Elizabeth Cheney, who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2002 to 2003, was named by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives.

There is particular interest being focused on Lynne Cheney's former colleague at AEI, Radek Sikorski, Poland's new Defense Minister. Under its center-right government and a former Deputy Defense Minister who may have served as a liaison between Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon on the establishment of the secret prison network in Poland.

LONDON (The Independent) Dec. 14 -- Tony Blair and Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, were under pressure last night to refute convincingly claims that Britain has been complicit in alleged use of CIA planes to take suspected terrorists for torture in secret camps abroad.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, has accused the Government of conducting a "hear no evil, see no evil" policy on renditions, after repeated denials that Britain is colluding in transporting prisoners to countries where torture is reputedly widespread.

But there are signs that the Government's attempt to keep free of the controversy are becoming untenable, amid calls from MPs, human rights groups and European bodies for an in-depth investigation.

Read on ...

● Malawi Suspects Interrogated in Zimbabwe  
● How Extraordinary is Extraordinary Rendition?  

Since it was behind closed doors, we'll never know exactly what the German government told parliament, but it seems like the FDP party is not convinced that they got the whole truth. And poor El-Masri -link-, that guy's story is looking ever more credible.

Meanwhile Germany's Stern magazine has reported that it is increasingly likely one of the secret prisons was located in Poland.

● Malawi Extraordinary Renditions
● Dutch FM Bot
● Cheney Visit to CIA Camp in Poland
● Evidence CIA Rendition & Flights Credible  HR Council of Europe

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."