Posted on 04/23/2005 4:54:27 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON, April 22 - A German citizen detained for five months in an Afghan prison was released in May 2004 on direct orders from Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser, after she learned the man had been mistakenly identified as a terror suspect, government officials said Friday.
The officials, who confirmed an account of Ms. Rice's decision that was first reported by NBC News, said that when Khaled el-Masri was taken from a bus on the Serbian-Macedonian border on Dec. 31, 2003, the Macedonian and the American authorities believed he was a member of Al Qaeda who had trained at one of Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan.
But within several months they concluded he was the victim of mistaken identity, the officials said. His name was similar to a Qaeda suspect on an international watch list of possible terrorist operatives, they said.
By then, Mr. Masri, 41, a car salesman who lives in Ulm, Germany, had been flown on a C.I.A.-chartered plane to the prison under a secret American program of transferring terror suspects from country to country for interrogation, officials said. At the prison in Kabul, Mr. Masri said, he was shackled, beaten, photographed nude and injected with drugs by interrogators who pressed him to reveal ties to Al Qaeda.
For reasons that are unclear, he remained for months at a prison known locally as the "Salt Pit." The case reached Ms. Rice in May 2004, officials said, and twice, over several weeks, she ordered him immediately freed. He was released in Albania on May 29, 2004.
The American officials acknowledged Friday that the detention had been a serious mistake and that he had been held too long after American officials realized their error.
In an interview on Friday, Mr. Masri said that he was gratified that "the truth has finally come out" and that he expected an apology. "I hope that America will in the future respect the rights of people," he said.
The disclosure of the decision to free Mr. Masri shed new light on the transfer of suspected Qaeda operatives around the world. Until now, it was believed that the transfers were carried out by the C.I.A. under presidential directives issued after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Ms. Rice's involvement suggests that the White House may have played a more hands-on role than was previously known. The officials who discussed the matter on Friday suggested that she had intervened as needed, but would not describe the extent to which national security officials at the White House were in charge.
In January, Mr. Masri's account of his ordeal was the subject of an article in The New York Times. At the time, officials at the C.I.A. and F.B.I. would not confirm or deny the details of his case, although they acknowledged that they had been contacted by the German authorities investigating his allegations of mistreatment.
Don Van Natta contributed reporting from London for this article, and Souad Mekhennet from Frankfurt.
Nothing bad happened in Iraq, they can't just give the administration a free day.
If ever a lawsuit was justified, this is one case. Man-o-man!
How'd you like that storm thursday?
Remind me to never buy a used car from this guy.
I've a feeling he won't be offering Americans his best deal.
Wrong. Her action indicates that it stopped at her desk and never made it to The President.
You're more likely to buy a coffee from him at a 7-11 than a car at a dealership.
OK. I don't get it. Where's the new part of it? Sounds like Condi did the right thing. But how can they so casually mention torture in Kabul and yet I've seen no media frenzy? How now? What gives?
This is prep for 2008.
The smear line will be: RICE WAS TORTURE MASTERMIND.
Just wait and see.
-R
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