US "Secret Prisons" moved out of Europe after exposure

How bad are the CIA's "secret prisons" that they decided to move them as soon as they were revealed? (The WaPo story broke on Nov. 2) Were they moved for politcal reasons, to protect the complicit host countries' governments? Were they moved to deter further EU investigation?

Dec. 5, 2005 — Two CIA secret prisons were operating in Eastern Europe until last month when they were shut down following Human Rights Watch reports of their existence in Poland and Romania.

Current and former CIA officers speaking to ABC News on the condition of confidentiality say the United States scrambled to get all the suspects off European soil before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived there today. The officers say 11 top al Qaeda suspects have now been moved to a new CIA facility in the North African desert......

All but one of these 11 high-value al Qaeda prisoners were subjected to the harshest interrogation techniques in the CIA's secret arsenal, the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" authorized for use by about 14 CIA officers and first reported by ABC News on Nov. 18.

Be sure to check here for the ABCNews story where the CIA offers it's version of "enhanced interrogation techniques." And how broken down are these people after months of "interrogation"?

In exchange for cooperation, prisoners were sometimes given hard candies, desserts and chocolates. Abu Zubaydah was partial to Kit Kats, the same treat Saddam Hussein fancied in his captivity.

Or is this just CIA propaganda telling other Al Qaeda members that Abu Zubaydah is selling them out for Kit Kats? ABCNews now has a CIA source, but judging from the explanatory nature of the two stories it has broken, I wonder just how much of this is planted rather than reported.

It also appears that Romania's payoff was, in part, new US military bases with assets moved from Germany.(AFP)

Also, the WaPo has a big A01 story on how the CIA lied to the Italians about the Nasr rendition. Nothing really big or new as far as I can tell, but the first time the story has made a major front page.

BUT: The LATimes has some news on the Nasr rendition with this: The former CIA station Chief is outlining his defense to the Italian charges and seeking to extend immunity into his retirement.