We have become what we despise:

ICRC seeks access to all terror suspects held by U.S.

Thu Nov 3, 2005 12:37 PM GMT

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on Thursday for access to all foreign terrorism suspects held by the United States after a report of a covert CIA prison system for al Qaeda captives.

The Washington Post said on Wednesday that the CIA was hiding and interrogating inmates at a secret facility in Eastern Europe, among so-called "black sites" in eight countries under a global network set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"We are concerned at the fate of an unknown number of people captured as part of the so-called global war on terror and held at undisclosed places of detention," Antonella Notari, chief ICRC spokeswoman, told Reuters in response to a question.

"Access to detainees is an important humanitarian priority for the ICRC and a logical continuation of our current work in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay," she added.

Poland and Romania, close U.S. allies in ex-communist central Europe, on Thursday denied suggestions by the New York-based Human Rights Watch that they were among countries hosting secret Central Intelligence Agency detention centres.

"There are no CIA bases in Romania," Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu told reporters.

Former Polish defence minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski also denied the report as did a senior security official from the new government which took over on Monday.

"Holding foreign nationals on Polish territory would be illegal," the official told Reuters. "I don't think any Polish government would want to do that," he said, adding that a government statement would follow later on Thursday.

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