By Daisy Ayliffe - 5th December 2005
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will make no apologies for US tactics in the war on terror when she visits Europe this week.
As Rice left Washington for Berlin on Monday she insisted American intelligence was being used to help protect citizens’ lives.
“We share intelligence that has helped protect European countries from attack, helping save European lives," Rice said. “That cooperation is a two-way street," she added.
“It is up to those governments and their citizens to decide if they wish to work with us to prevent terrorist attacks against their own country or other countries, and decide how much sensitive information they can make public."
The US has come under increasing pressure following news reports that the CIA is housing terrorist suspects at secret prisons in Europe.
Media reports suggest that over 300 CIA flights have landed in European airports, mostly in Germany and the UK.
The EU has opened an inquiry among its member states and asked Rice to supply information.
But the secretary of state’s latest statement does not recognize the existence of any secret prisons and Washington continues to insist it does not “permit, tolerate or condone torture under any circumstances.”
She says suspects were moved by plane under a process known as rendition, and said this was "a lawful weapon."
Rice can expect tough questioning on the issue when she arrives in Europe for a whistle stop tour of the continent.
Her first stop is Germany, where parliament has demanded to know the purpose of more than 400 flights, run by the US military, that landed or passed through German airspace.
She will also visit Romania - where human rights groups allege a detention centre from may have been located - and Brussels, where the EU has written to Washington asking for further details about US flights.
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