US pressured Spain on Iraq, Guantanamo, CIA

First Published: 2010-12-02

Leaks: US tried to thwart Spanish probes of Guantanamo torture, CIA rendition, case of journalist killed in Iraq.

Middle East Online

US pressured the Spanish government to close Jose Couso's court case NEW YORK – The latest WikiLeaks disclosures reveal US officials tried to influence Spanish prosecutors and government officials to drop court investigations into torture at Guantanamo, CIA extraordinary rendition flights, and the 2003 killing of a Spanish journalist by US troops in Iraq. Leaked US embassy cables from Madrid reveal the United States pressured the Spanish government to close a court case brought by the family of a Spanish cameraman, Jose Couso. Couso was killed in Baghdad when a US Army tank fired on the Palestine Hotel, which was filled with journalists, on April 8, 2003. Three US soldiers have been indicted in Spanish court for Couso’s death. "I am outraged," said Javier Couso, the brother of Jose Couso. "I can’t believe my government conspired with a foreign government… It seems we are citizens, or at least a small province, of the empire of the United States." Spanish prosecutors are coming under criticism for revelations that they shared information on cases they were involved in with US officials. According the leaked cables, US officials were worried in particular about investigations pursued by the world-renowned Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, whom US officials described as having "an anti-American streak." Garzon opened a case against six former Bush administration officials, including former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, for torture at the Guantanamo prison camp. Senator Mel Martinez and US embassy’s chargé d’affaires visited the Spanish foreign ministry to warn the Guantanamo investigation would have consequences. The cables say "Martinez and the charge underscored that the prosecutions would...have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship." The US ambassador to Spain, Eduardo Aguirre, was also pressuring the Spanish government to drop a precedent-setting case against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And US officials were especially alarmed when prosecutors in Spain and Germany began comparing notes on their investigations into CIA extraordinary rendition flights. US officials said "This co-ordination among independent investigators will complicate our efforts to manage this case at a discreet government-to-government level." The investigation in Germany was in regard to the CIA abduction and rendition of German citizen Khaled El-Masri. He was wrongly abducted and flown to Afghanistan, where he was held for months without charge. When it looked like 13 CIA agents might be charged in the case, the US embassy in Berlin stepped in and, according to one leaked cable, threatened that "issuance of international arrest warrants would have a negative impact on our bilateral relationship." (www.democracynow.org)