CIA prison scandal = public outcry on European leaders

Washington mum on CIA prison scandal, experts say onus on European capitals 1 hour, 21 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Allegations that the CIA ran secret overseas jails for terrorism suspects will further tarnish the image of the US abroad but will not likely lead to a downturn in transatlantic relations, experts said.

"This is the latest in a series of blows to the United States image which matters in Europe, it matters to transatlantic relations," Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the Brookings Institution's Center on the United States and Europe and an expert on military and national security issues, told AFP.

"However, I don't think this particular revelation is most significant in that regard," he added. "It's one in a series of things that have been going up and down."

Shapiro and others said as the scandal develops and the public outcry in European capitals mounts, the onus will be on European leaders, rather than Washington officials, to explain themselves to their constituencies and to the European Union.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051117/pl_afp/usattacksprisons_051117190823