A court in Germany has ordered the arrest of 13 people suspected of being involved in the abduction of a German national who says he was kidnapped and tortured by the CIA, state prosecutors said today.
"According to current findings, the particulars of the suspects listed in the arrest warrants suggest these could be cover identities of CIA agents," prosecutors said in a statement.
They said a district court in Munich had issued warrants for the arrest of the 13 on suspicion of falsely imprisoning and causing grievous bodily harm to Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent.
Mr Masri was arrested in Macedonia at the end of 2003 and says he was handed over to the CIA, who flew him to Afghanistan and wrongly held him until his release in late May 2004. Investigators say they believe his account.
State prosecutors said the suspects had been identified on the basis of a list compiled with the aid of Spanish authorities. The list purported to detail those who were on board the plane Masri said took him to Afghanistan.
Additional information about the identities of the suspects was provided by prosecutors in Milan and Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty, prosecutors added.
"These findings, as well as the results of other investigations, have now provided the grounds for the strong suspicion that 13 identifiable persons participated in the abduction of el-Masri," prosecutors said.
Mr Masri's case has fuelled debate in Europe about secret transfers of terrorism suspects by US intelligence agencies. Further investigations would concentrate on establishing the real identities of the suspects, prosecutors added.
They gave no further information, including on the nationalities of the suspects. German NDR state television said the 13 suspects were CIA employees, according to its own research. It said the majority of them were in the United States.