Azerbaijan denies any CIA prisons in its territory

Azerbaijan rejected the information about secret CIA prisons located in its territory, the RIA "Novosti" reports. "It's absolute nonsense to think of any secret prisons in the territory of Azerbaijan," Samed Seidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), told journalists on Saturday.

According to Seidov, Azerbaijan has presented its official response to Council of Europe's request to Terri Davis, Secretary General of the Organization, and Dick Marti, rapporteur of the PACE on the issue.

Earlier, Alvaro Jill Robles, the then Commissioner of the Council of Europe for human rights, had insisted on investigation by the Council of Europe (CE) of secret operations of the CIA in Europe, and on examining the information about establishment by the American Intelligence Agency of secret prisons in the continent and use of "flying prisons" for transportation of inmates.

The "Caucasian Knot" informed earlier that Mr. Robles stated, in his interview to the El Pais Spanish newspaper that he had raised the issue before the CE after the messages appeared about The CIA's illegal operations. The ex-Commissioner of the CE for human rights noted that the countries of Europe who had allowed the CIA to build "secret" prisons and landing grounds for "flying prisons" could be subject to sanctions. The USA, should the facts come true, may be deprived of the observer's status at the CE. Besides, the States may be subject to "international reproof," Robles stressed.

Meanwhile, the "Echo" Baku-based newspaper reported, with a reference to the Turkish newspaper "Hurriett" that the aircraft DeHavilland Dash 8-315B, belonging to a CIA-dummy company Path Corporation, landed on November 15, 2005, in Istanbul on the way from Baku to Amsterdam. According to Binali Yildrym, minister of transport of Turkey, the liner made "a technical landing" in Sabiha Gekchen Istanbul airport. We note here that the aircraft is "servicing" secret CIA prisons and transports terrorist suspects from one country to another. The fact that the liner had repeatedly landed in Baku was reported by American media some 1.5-2 years ago. Among the countries, where the CIA keeps its "secret prisons," Romania, Poland and Azerbaijan are mentioned.

The PR Centre of the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan had then refuted the information and marked that Azerbaijan had never had any CIA secret prisons.