Individual Rights Must Be Upheld, Merkel Says

As new questions arose in Europe over U.S. treatment of suspected militants, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday that those combating terrorism must “find a balance” that does not violate individual rights and international law.

The chancellor’s comments came as Rice began a European trip engulfed by criticism of the U.S. over reports that CIA planes used airports on the continent as stopovers while transporting prisoners to secret interrogation sites, some reportedly operated in Eastern Europe.

The matter has been particularly sensitive in Berlin, coming amid accusations that U.S. intelligence operatives mistakenly abducted a German national of Lebanese descent in December 2003 and held him for five months. Rice would not directly comment on the detention of Khaled Masri, but she said during a news conference with Merkel that “any policy will sometimes result in errors, and when it does we will do everything we can to rectify them.”

Masri filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in northern Virginia against former CIA Director George J. Tenet. The suit, which also names the owners of the plane that allegedly transported Masri, charges that the 42-year-old car salesman was subjected to “torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.”

Standing together in the chancellery, Merkel and Rice sought to strengthen German-American relations that were damaged by former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s fervent opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Merkel stressed the transatlantic partnership and the cooperation of intelligence services. But facing pressure from leftists in her fragile coalition government, the new chancellor said international law must be respected in dealing with alleged terrorists.

“We have to fight the challenges of the 21st century,” said Merkel, referring to terrorism. “We, at the same time, have to see to it that we seek the right means ... that allow us to stay in line with the legal system and the laws in which we believe.”

Intelligence agencies need latitude to do their jobs, she said. But she added, “I think the essential is that we have to adhere to the rules in each case.”

Echoing statements she made Monday, Rice said the U.S. follows international law and “does not condone torture.” She added that any debate on the arrests and interrogations of terrorism suspects “must have a healthy respect for the challenges we face when we face an enemy that operates from within our societies and that is intent” on killing civilians.

Rice cited bombings in recent years in Madrid, London and Jordan, saying: “When you face that kind of threat you have an obligation to do everything you can and get to the perpetrators” before they act.

The comments by Merkel and Rice underscored the sensitivities between Europe and Washington. The continent is suspicious of the U.S. policy known as “extraordinary renditions,” in which suspects are abducted in one country and flown to another nation for interrogation. Some European lawmakers complain that Washington has violated international treaties and national sovereignties by allowing CIA planes, possibly carrying prisoners, to fly in Europe’s airspace and stop over at U.S. military bases on the continent.

“I consider it a scandal that the Americans are discrediting the Western system of values,” said Volker Beck, a Green Party member of Parliament. “I think we have to reach an agreement with our American friends” that Germany is not indirectly involved in torturing suspects by allowing U.S. planes to use its airspace. He suggested that if such assurances could not be given, Germany should forbid flyovers by CIA aircraft.

The German government reported this week that more than 430 such CIA flights had occurred over Germany or made stops at U.S. bases in the country, including Ramstein Air Base. The European Union is investigating whether flights occurred in other countries. Details on the flights are emerging amid other reports that Poland and Romania housed secret U.S. facilities for interrogations.

Warsaw and Bucharest have denied the allegations, which were first raised by Human Rights Watch. They add an intriguing dynamic to the transatlantic relationship and to the east-west divide within Europe. Former Soviet bloc nations -- such as Poland, which sent 1,500 troops to Iraq -- generally have been more pro-American than their western counterparts. This has caused a diplomatic split in Europe and marks a change in U.S. strategic interests as American military bases shift out of countries such as Germany and to Poland and Romania.

The Polish government has confirmed that a plane possibly chartered by the CIA landed in September 2003 at the former military airport at SzczytnoSzymany in northeastern Poland. The airport is near a training site for Polish intelligence officers. The plane landed with seven people onboard and took on five more passengers holding U.S. passports before departing less than an hour later.

Romania has been more circumspect about CIA flights and alleged detention centers. Unlike Poland, Romania is not yet a member of the European Union, and fears its chances for entry might be jeopardized if it were linked to CIA activities.

However, Romania is not shy about its admiration for Washington. Rice arrived in Bucharest on Tuesday evening for talks with President Traian Basescu and signed a deal allowing the U.S. military to use Romanian bases, Reuters news service reported. Basescu said one U.S. base would be located at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airfield near the Black Sea, which Human Rights Watch has said may have been used as a secret CIA jail.

The mood was more sober between Merkel and Rice in Berlin over the U.S. role in the Masri case. Parliament is investigating the alleged abduction and detention of Masri, who German authorities say was mistaken for an Al Qaeda lieutenant while traveling in Macedonia. German prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation.

Masri told The Times this year that he was flown from Macedonia to Afghanistan and held at a U.S.-run detention center and interrogated for months. He was released and dropped in the Albanian mountains without a passport or money, he said.

The case has also led to questions in Germany over how much the Schroeder government knew about CIA flights and Masri’s detention.

“I am asking the American government to admit its mistakes and to apologize for my treatment,” said Masri in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union. “I am hoping that an American court will say very clearly that what happened to me was illegal and cannot be done to others.”

After meeting with Rice, Merkel said she was grateful the Bush administration has “admitted this man had been erroneously taken.” She added, “I am happy that [Rice] has repeated here that when such mistakes happen, they must be corrected immediately.”

But as Rice left Berlin for Bucharest, a senior U.S. official traveling with the secretary told Reuters that Rice had not acknowledged mistakes in the Masri case. The official said of Merkel, “We are not quite sure what was in her head.”

The official added that Masri was released after the U.S. realized “that it no longer had evidence or intelligence to justify his continued detention.”

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Times staff writer Alissa J. Rubin in Vienna and special correspondent Ela Kasprzycka in Warsaw contributed to this report.