MEPs to Study Cia Jails Claim

Euro MPs are to investigate claims that the CIA detained suspected terrorists at secret prisons in eastern Europe. A committee of inquiry made up of 46 MEPs was set up yesterday to examine allegations that detainees have been held in Romania, Poland, or other countries.

The CIA's policy of taking suspects to countries where they might be at risk of ill-treatment, a practice known as extraordinary rendition, is already the subject of separate inquiries in Italy, Spain, Germany and by the Council of Europe.

Last week Swiss authorities were reported to have intercepted a message from Cairo to the Egyptian embassy in London, which reported that Egypt had established that the CIA had detained 23 terror suspects at a military base in Romania, and that similar centres existed in Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria. Romania's interior minister, Vasil Blaga, has denied the claim.

MEP Graham Watson, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Strasbourg, said: "We need to examine all the evidence to see whether fundamental rights across the European Union have been respected." His fellow Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford added: "There is too much evidence to ignore."