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New World Order Title: EU lawmakers complain US stonewalls on torture WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the European Parliament, in Washington to investigate reports of secret CIA prisons and detainee transfers in Europe, complained on Thursday Bush administration officials stonewalled them. "There was an exorbitant number of 'no comments,'" Claudio Fava, who is charged with writing the delegation's report, said after an hour-long meeting with senior State Department officials. He likened the U.S. approach to a soccer player who starts a match with a violent foul, saying the Americans set a tone of noncooperation by stating from the outset the visitors had no jurisdiction over the U.S. government. The Europeans are probing allegations that the CIA ran an illegal detention system in Europe for al Qaeda suspects and secretly transported detainees on the continent, which have sparked outrage there. The Bush administration has neither denied nor confirmed the CIA ran secret prisons and generally refuses to discuss details of flights to transfer terrorism suspects. Washington's contentions that it respects nations' sovereignty, must use tough tactics against militants and does not outsource torture have done little to defuse the anger, although allied governments have generally accepted the explanations. Fava said that, while the delegation got no information about specific cases, it was important to put the United States on the spot. "I take satisfaction from their embarrassment, satisfaction from the difficulty they have in giving a concrete answer to a concrete question," the leftist Italian told reporters, adding a "no comment" suggested there was something to hide. On Wednesday, the Europeans also complained they had not been granted meetings with any Republican members of Congress. State Department legal adviser John Bellinger, who described Thursday's meeting as a good and respectful discussion, said the United States refuses to discuss cases involving intelligence information. "We reiterated, as we have in the past, that as much as we would like to be able to deny the many allegations out there that are simply incorrect, that we have regretfully concluded that we simply cannot comment on specific allegations," Bellinger told reporters. LEGAL LOOPHOLES A Washington Post report last year that the CIA had run secret prisons in Europe and flown suspects from there to countries where they could have been tortured unleashed a spate of investigations. None have so far produced proof. The European committee has no legal powers but can recommend political actions against any countries found to have been involved, including the United States. Washington has sought to deflect some criticism by going on the offensive. Last week, Bellinger said the allegations were damaging transatlantic intelligence cooperation. But the delegation's visit is a sign that the scandal over the prisons will not easily fade. President George W. Bush also faces accusations, mainly from Democrats, that he uses legal loopholes to justify harsh interrogation tactics, such as convincing detainees they are drowning. The delegation head, Carlos Coelho, a Portuguese conservative, said there needed to be agreement on a legal framework for the war on terrorism because Europe and the United States disagree on what amounts to detainee abuse. "It is very difficult to find common ground if, for instance, regarding the facts, the European sides state this is a form of torture and the American side say it is not," he said.
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