Polish authorities act on CIA report references

Polish prosecutors investigating the alleged hosting of a CIA terrorist prison want the US Senate to hand over its full report on CIA torture practices after a summary was published on Tuesday including possible references to Poland.

”Obviously, we will want to familiarise ourselves with the report,” said Piotr Kosmaty, spokesman for Krakow Appellate Prosecutor’s office, which is leading the Polish investigation.

”We will appeal to US authorities to send us the original of the document,” he added.

Although all country names were blacked out in the report, experts think that it is relatively easy to find out which parts relate to Poland.

“Country [redacted] rejected the transfer of [redacted], which included Khalid Shaykh Muhammad,” reads one sentence of the 500-page report.

It has long been suspected that Muhammad – the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks – was held and interrogated in Poland.

The report goes on to say that the country’s US ambassador “intervened with the political leadership of Country [redacted] on the CIA’s behalf. The following month, the CIA provided $ [redacted] million to Country [redacted]’s [redacted].”

Besides Poland, Romania and Lithuania are among the European countries implicated in the affair.

Unaware?

Polish authorities that were in power at the time of the alleged “black sites” (2002-2003) have vehemently denied knowing anything about the operation.

Former Prime Minister Leszek Miller on Tuesday repeated that he was unaware CIA-run sites operated in the country.

“Some secrets should be respected, and the law should be respected. I think that this publication introduces doubt in allies of the United States as well as various countries around the world,” National Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said.

Poland’s investigation into the matter was opened in 2008, but the publication of the report has been repeatedly delayed, leading to criticism from within the EU.

Former foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in a television interview in June 2014 that “Poland is the only country [among suspected European states] which is leading an investigation into this matter, so it is very unfair to pillory Poland.

“Because we did not torture anyone, and we are investigating the matter,” he said.

Forewarned?

US President Barack Obama called Polish PM Ewa Kopacz on Monday night warning that Poland could be mentioned in the upcoming Senate report. “We ended the conversation with President Obama saying that despite what the report revealed, Polish-American relations would not be harmed.