Extradite CIA Kidnappers, Germans Demand

Crackdown strains US-German relations
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 26, 2007 5:39 AM CDT
Extradite CIA Kidnappers, Germans Demand
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talk aboard a high-speed train heading for a G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Potsdam, Germany, Wednesday, May 30, 2007. (AP Photo)   (Associated Press)

Germany is demanding the extradition of 10 CIA agents for the kidnapping of suspected terrorist Khaled el-Masri in 2004, Der Spiegel reports. The German citizen was flown to Afghanistan in what is known as as "extraordinary rendition." The case is similar to one in Italy in which 26 CIA agents are being tried in absentia.

The move adds strain to the increasingly fragile relationship between Germany and the US. At a recent lunch at the German Embassy in Washington the new CIA director complained about the "bottomless criticism" from Europe over US abducting suspected terrorists on foreign soil. There's a German double standard, one diplomat told Der Spiegel: They want to share the information gleaned, but they also want to keep their hands clean. (More Khaled el Masri stories.)

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