Germany's external intelligence service, the BND, said yesterday that it knew about the American seizure and detention of a German citizen 16 months before the country was officially informed of his mistaken arrest. It was unclear whether that information had been passed on to senior officials.
Germany had previously maintained that it did not learn of the abduction of its citizen, Khaled el-Masri, until he returned to Germany in May 2004.
The disclosure on Thursday, made as a parliamentary inquiry into the case reconvened in Berlin, adds to suspicions that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, have abetted the American practice of "extraordinary rendition." The phrase refers to the kidnapping of terrorism suspects by American agents who then secretly transport the suspects to third countries for interrogation, beyond the jurisdiction of American laws.
Any European participation in the extrajudicial seizures and detentions, not to mention the torture that is said to be involved, would constitute a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council of Europe, which enforces the convention, is investigating the allegations of European participation in the American rendition program ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/02/world/europe/02masri.html?_r=1&oref=slogin