Melanie
September 7th, 2006, 03:30 AM
Bush acknowledges 'CIA prisons' Thursday September 7, 07:41 AM
US President George W Bush has acknowledged for the first time the existence of CIA prisons in foreign countries.
Mr Bush defended the prisons, where terrorism suspects have been interrogated, saying the information obtained had made the US a safer place.
He revealed that 14 al-Qaeda leaders had been transferred from the controversial jails to the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
In the UK, Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said the revelation suggested it was time to renew questions over the so-called "rendition" of terror suspects through UK airports.
The US has been accused of flying suspects to other countries for questioning on so-called "torture flights".
Reports have suggested suspects may have been flown through British airports.
Earlier Mr Bush had given another warning on the dangers of terrorism, in which he compared Osama bin Laden to Hitler and Lenin.
Speaking less than a week before the five-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the US President warned that terrorists had adapted their methods and that Americans should not to be complacent about the threat of future terror attacks.
"History teaches that underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake," he said, adding that the world had "paid a terrible price" for ignoring the writings of Lenin and Hitler.
"Bin laden and his terrorists' allies have made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them.
"The question is 'Will we listen? Will we pay attention to what these evil men say?'
"America and our coalition partners have made our choice: we're taking the word of the enemy seriously."
US President George W Bush has acknowledged for the first time the existence of CIA prisons in foreign countries.
Mr Bush defended the prisons, where terrorism suspects have been interrogated, saying the information obtained had made the US a safer place.
He revealed that 14 al-Qaeda leaders had been transferred from the controversial jails to the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
In the UK, Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said the revelation suggested it was time to renew questions over the so-called "rendition" of terror suspects through UK airports.
The US has been accused of flying suspects to other countries for questioning on so-called "torture flights".
Reports have suggested suspects may have been flown through British airports.
Earlier Mr Bush had given another warning on the dangers of terrorism, in which he compared Osama bin Laden to Hitler and Lenin.
Speaking less than a week before the five-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the US President warned that terrorists had adapted their methods and that Americans should not to be complacent about the threat of future terror attacks.
"History teaches that underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake," he said, adding that the world had "paid a terrible price" for ignoring the writings of Lenin and Hitler.
"Bin laden and his terrorists' allies have made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them.
"The question is 'Will we listen? Will we pay attention to what these evil men say?'
"America and our coalition partners have made our choice: we're taking the word of the enemy seriously."