March 29, 2007 - The Bush administration is warning that U.S. cooperation with German intelligence agencies could be jeopardized if that country pursues attempts to extradite 13 CIA officers charged with illegally abducting a German Muslim on suspicions of terrorist connections.
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A European diplomat confirmed to NEWSWEEK that American officials have strongly warned the German government against pursuing CIA officers charged in the abduction of Khalid al-Masri, a Lebanese-born German Muslim who was nabbed while he was vacationing in Macedonia in December 2003. He was flown to Afghanistan for questioning. Al-Masri was suspected of involvement in the September 11 terror attacks.
But he was released in May 2004. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly later acknowledged in private to German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his abduction was a case of mistaken identity.
"The U.
S. has on multiple occasions made clear that it will consider a request for extradition as an unfriendly act that would burden bilateral relations," said a European official who requested anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the subject—a view confirmed by a senior American official.
U.
S. officials have not publicly explained what the consequences of the German government committing an "unfriendly act" would be. But they say an attempt to extradite the CIA officers could result in the breakdown of longstanding intelligence and law-enforcement cooperation—a serious threat given the close postwar relationship between Germany and the United States.
A committee of Germany's Parliament is conducting an in-depth investigation into the Masri case, demanding documents and detailed explanations from German intelligence and law-enforcement agencies regarding contacts that their personnel had with U.S. officials.
Such investigations, said European and U.S. officials, are likely to deter future cooperation between the two countries’ intelligence and law-enforcement officials.
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