Moratinos to appear before ‘CIA’ committee

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos will on 14 September be the first government official to appear before the European Parliament’s committee investigating CIA activity in Europe.

Although the list the committee drew up in July targeted over 30 government officials it wanted to interview, just two government ministers have been scheduled to address the committee. UK Europe Minister Geoff Hoon has agreed to be interviewed when members of the committee travel to London on 4-6 October.

In some cases governments have refused to appear before the committee, in others the committee has not contacted the officials listed.

The UK Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, has told the committee she will not have time to meet MEPs, while a meeting with the UK Home Secretary John Reid remains an "open question", said the official.

The government officials will be questioned about their knowledge of CIA rendition flights from Europe and the existence of illegal detention centres where interrogations are alleged to have taken place.

On Wednesday (6 September) US President George W. Bush admitted the existence of secret CIA prisons. He said the CIA programme had interrogated a small number of key figures suspected of involvment in terrorism attacks, but gave no further details.

The committee is under a tight deadline to complete its work as its mandate runs out at the end of the year.

Members of the committee are also to travel to Germany this month to meet members of the Bundestag, which is carrying out an inquiry into possible CIA activity on German territory. But the German foreign ministry has told the committee it will not attend until a meeting with the Bundestag has been completed.

The members will travel to Romania next month and Poland in November to discuss the alleged existence of illegal detention centres, with no government officials as yet schedule to appear before it.

The Portuguese press has reported the foreign minister saying he would appear before the Portuguese parliament before giving evidence to the European Parliament.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos will on 14 September be the first government official to appear before the European Parliament’s committee investigating CIA activity in Europe.

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