Date: September 6, 2006 1:02:33 PM PDT
Subject: [SPY NEWS] Bush to announce transfer of CIA detainees: ABC
Bush to announce transfer of CIA detainees: ABC
Wed Sep 6, 2006 1:19pm ET148
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will announce that about a dozen key foreign terrorism suspects held at secret CIA prisons will be transferred to Department of Defense custody and granted protection under the Geneva Conventions, ABC News reported on Wednesday.
The U.S. network said the change would apply to all prisoners held by the CIA, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks and senior al Qaeda leader Ramzi Binalshibh.
Quoting an unnamed source familiar with the president's announcement, ABC said there were "about a dozen" prisoners now held by the CIA.
Up to now, the U.S. government has not officially acknowledged the existence of the CIA prisons, which were revealed by The Washington Post last year, sparking international criticism of the Bush administration.
The White House has been condemned for its handling of detainees captured in the U.S.-led military campaign to root out al Qaeda terror cells abroad, including those held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, an outspoken critic of administration policy on detainees, told reporters he was briefed about the change late on Tuesday.
Asked whether high value prisoners in CIA prisons would get the same protections as other prisoners, McCain said: "I believe that's what's going to happen."
The Geneva Conventions are a series of international agreements cover the treatment of prisoners of war.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Bush admits CIA has held terror suspects
Wed Sep 6, 2006 3:04pm ET148
By Steve Holland and Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush acknowledged on Wednesday the CIA has run a secret detention program for terrorism suspects overseas and said 14 of those held have been transferred to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
With human rights organizations suspicious about a program that has remained in the shadows, Bush strongly defended the detention and questioning of terrorism suspects through this method and said the CIA treats them humanely and does not torture.
"Were it not for this program, our intelligence community believes that al Qaeda and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack against the American homeland. By giving us information about terrorist plans we could not get anywhere else, this program has saved innocent lives," Bush said in a White House speech nearly five years after the September 11 attacks.
Bush announced that the 14 suspects held by the CIA have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay for prosecution by military commissions he hopes the U.S. Congress will establish.
His administration has been forced to come up with a new method to try foreign terrorist suspects after the Supreme Court in June rejected the military tribunal system set up by Washington to try Guantanamo prisoners, most of whom were captured in Afghanistan.
Among the 14, Bush said, are the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed and two other al Qaeda leaders, Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah.
"As soon as Congress acts to authorize the military commissions I have proposed, the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001, can face justice," Bush said.
SECRET PRISONS
Senior administration officials said the CIA has held less than 100 suspects and after the transfer of the last 14 to Pentagon custody, the agency currently holds none.
Bush would not say where the CIA secret prisons have been located overseas but there have been reports of such facilities in Eastern Europe. The revelation of the secret prisons by The Washington Post last year sparked outrage among many European countries.
The United Nations committee against torture in May called on the United States to close any secret prisons abroad, but the senior administration officials said the program was essential and would remain open.
Bush's current focus on terrorism comes not only as the September 11 anniversary approaches but also as his Republican Party faces stiff challenges in the midterm elections in two months.
Facing a potential rebellion on Capitol Hill from some in his own party over the effort to create new tribunals, Bush said he would submit proposed legislation on Wednesday on how he believes the commissions should be set up.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said on Tuesday he and Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were circulating their version of the legislation.
Their bill adheres more to military court martial procedures, and Warner's spokesman, John Ullyot, said there were "some sticking points with the administration" on it.
McCain said lawmakers had not see the specifics of Bush's legislation but had been briefed on it. "We do have some differences which we are in discussions about and I do believe we can work those out."
Bush said his bill would insist that terrorism suspects cannot use Geneva Convention protections to file lawsuits against U.S. personnel in U.S. courts.
Bush said passing the legislation "ought to be the top priority" of Congress's abbreviated election-year schedule in coming weeks.
(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, Matt Spetalnick and Vicki Allen)
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
-__ ___ _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ __
/-_|-0-\-V-/-\|-|-__|-|-|-/-_|
\_-\--_/\-/|-\\-|-_||-V-V-\_-\
|__/_|--//-|_|\_|___|\_A_/|__/
SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter and discussion list associated to
Mario's Cyberspace Station - The Global Intelligence News Portal
Since you are receiving and reading documents, news stories,
comments and opinions not only from so called (or self-proclaimed)
"reliable sources", but also a lot of possible misinformation collected
by Spy News moderator and subscribers and posted to Spy News
for OSINT purposes - it should be a serious reason (particularly to
journalists and web publishers) to think twice before using it for their
story writing, further publishing or forwarding throughout Cyberspace.
To unsubscribe:
*** FAIR USE NOTICE: This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Spy News is making it available without profit to SPY NEWS members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We always mention the author and link the original site and page of every article. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
SPY NEWS home page:
Mario Profaca
e-mail: mario.profaca[at]zg.htnet.hr
SPY NEWS owner, editor
and discussion moderator
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
