Extradite CIA Kidnappers, Germans Demand

Erik Prince's story raises security issues

(NEWSER) - Erik Prince says he and Blackwater—the defense contractor now known as Xe—got a raw deal from the government. "I put myself and my company at the CIA's disposal for some very risky missions," the firm's founder tells Vanity Fair . "But when it became politically expedient to do so, someone threw me under the bus." More»

(NEWSER) - US and Pakistani officials say they're all but certain they killed Baitullah Mehsud, yet one of his fellow Taliban commanders says that's just a bunch of "ridiculous" propaganda. Mehsud, he insists to the BBC, is alive and will stay underground for a few days before issuing a public statement. He offered no proof, however, and some analysts suggest he may be buying time to take over the Pakistan Taliban himself, notes Reuters. More»

Berlin dropped extradition try last year when US refused

(NEWSER) - A German man is suing his country to have 13 CIA agents extradited in a case of "extraordinary rendition," the BBC reports. Khaled al-Masri says they grabbed him by mistake in 2003 and dropped him in an Afghan prison, where he was tortured for 5 months. But Germany decided last year not to pursue the agents, when Washington said the move would threaten "American national interests." More»

Bogus firms failed to provide effective cover for overseas spies

(NEWSER) - CIA officials lost a bundle after 9/11 setting up fake businesses to ensnare suspected terrorists in a strategy it now concedes was ill-conceived, reports the Los Angeles Times. The agency spent hundreds of millions of dollars to establish 12 enterprises in Europe and elsewhere to provide a convincing cover for spies. All but two have been shut down. More»

Fighters wary of Iraq are groomed for terror ops on Afghan border

(NEWSER) - Renewed Al-Qaeda strength on the Pakistan-Afghan border is wooing European militants to train in Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fighters who are wary of Iraq—where they may have to strap on a bomb on short notice—can enjoy being groomed for missions in Pakistan. “Pakistan worries me more than Iraq,” says a Belgian official, because militants “have time to be trained as operatives.” More»