European reaction: Poland and Romania angrily rejected Council of Europe accusations yesterday that they hosted secret prisons to hold the CIA's terror suspects.
The council's report said 14 European countries were part of a "global spider's web" traversed by CIA aircraft, and named airfields in Poland and Romania as likely sites for covert detention centres. "There is no proof that the planes that landed in Romania belong to the CIA or of any CIA prisons in this country," said Norica Nicolai, deputy head of Romania's senate defence commission.
"We have checked all the information published in the media, and we also had access to the database of Eurocontrol, which looks after the security of European air space," he added.
Romeo Raicu, head of a parliamentary body overseeing Romania's foreign intelligence service, also derided the report for a lack of evidence rather than denying outright terror suspects could have been held in or moved through the country. "There is no evidence that there were such detention bases in Romania," he said, while noting US aircraft have express permission to fly over and land in Romania.
"The responsibility for what those planes transport is not Romania's," insisted Mr Raicu.
Polish prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said the allegation Poland had hosted CIA jails was "slanderous and has no basis in fact". His government's intelligence co-ordinator, Zbigniew Wasserman, said so-called rendition flights did occur, but "behind this there need not necessarily be an allegation of keeping prisoners or torturing them".
Marek Biernacki, head of parliament's special services commission, said Poland had "loyally conducted intelligence co-operation" with its allies. "There were landings in Poland but I know nothing about either Taliban or any other terrorists being held . . ."
