US kidnapped German in 'terror' mishap ISN Monday, 17 January 2005 http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10579
ISN SECURITY WATCH (17/01/05) � The case of a German citizen who was allegedly kidnapped by US operatives after being mistaken for a top al-Qaida operative has caused headaches to officials on both sides of the Atlantic in recent days. According to German media reports, 41-year-old Khaled al-Masri, a native Lebanese with German citizenship, was abducted while traveling by coach from Germany to Skopje, Macedonia on 31 December 2003. He was taken off the bus by armed civilians on the Macedonian-Serbian border. Apparently because he is the namesake of a wanted terrorist, al-Masri was held under armed guard in Macedonia for 26 days and refused access to or contact with German authorities, according to Der Spiegel weekly magazine. He was subsequently turned over to men he believes were US intelligence officials, who flew him out to a prison camp in Afghanistan. Other prisoners and his jailers told him that the detention center was in Kabul, Afghanistan, he said, according to the Berlin Tagesspiegel daily. There, he was held together with people from Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. He was beaten, held naked, and subjected to constant interrogation about his alleged terror links. Al-Masri says he was tortured and interrogated at the camp for five months before his captors realized they had gotten the wrong man. According to the reports, he was subsequently flown to Albania and deported from there to Frankfurt, Germany. The Spiegel report said that US officials had admitted, off the record, that an error had been made and had expressed regret at the case of mistaken identity. But a spokesman for the ruling SPD party�s parliamentary faction, Dieter Wiefelsp�tz, said the issue was being monitored with �great interest� in the Bundestag. The Munich public prosecutor�s office has opened an investigation of the apparent state-sanctioned kidnapping and has sent the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) a letter requesting more information on the case, German media reported. Al-Masri�s attorney, Manfred Gnjidic, said his client was considering suing for damages in the US. http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10579 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/UwRTUD/UOnJAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
