GERMANY: China cancels talks with Germany ahead of Chancellor Merkel meeting the Dalai Lama as Germany drops efforts to extradite CIA agents from the United States

A ministry spokeswoman said the Chinese cancelled the talks on the rule of law on Sunday (September 23), due to take place in Munich, for "technical reasons". China has protested against German Chancellor Angela Merkel's plans to meet the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, summoning the German ambassador in Beijing earlier this month. The Dalai Lama met Merkel in the German Chancellery on Sunday (September 23) for what Berlin has described as a "private exchange of views," said German Justice Minister, Brigitte Zypries. Speaking to journalists, German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said the cancellation was regrettable. "It is more than regrettable that they have pulled out, and I hope that we find another date soon so that we can continue the good talks," she said and added, "If we are able to agree on another date soon, then I would not want call it a backlash." Critics of China's rule in Tibet say Beijing continues to repress Tibetan Buddhists' religious aspirations, especially their veneration for the Dalai Lama, whom China denounces as a "separatist". The spiritual leader says he only wants greater autonomy for the region. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and he remains highly popular among Tibetans. Meanwhile, Germany has abandoned efforts to extradite from the United States 13 suspected CIA agents who prosecutors in Munich say took part in the 2003 kidnapping of a German citizen, the Justice Ministry also said on Sunday (September 23). Earlier this year, a Munich court ordered the arrest of the 13 on suspicion of kidnapping Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent who says he was flown from Macedonia to Afghanistan where he was imprisoned for months and tortured. The chief prosecutor for the Bavarian state capital made a formal request to the German federal government in Berlin that it ask Washington to extradite the 13 to Germany for trial. But U.S. officials have refused to meet the demand. "It fits with the conventions of judicial assistance, that with complicated cases, that one does a so-called pre-request. That means you ask whether the country is at all willing to comply with the requests. We did this, we sent a written request, and I spoke to my American colleague on the phone after that. And the Americans say quite clearly, no they will not arrest these 13 people, nor will they extradite them," said Zypries. The development means Germany will not be able to institute proceedings against the suspected CIA agents. The Masri case has focused media attention on CIA kidnappings of suspected terrorists for interrogation in third countries. The practice, called "extraordinary rendition", has caused tensions inside Germany, and between Berlin and Washington. The abduction and interrogation of Murat Kurnaz, a German-born Turk, also put the CIA and Germany's links with the organisation under scrutiny. Kurnaz was captured in 2001 and held for 4-1/2 years at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. Especially damning was Kurnaz's unconfirmed allegation that German troops in Afghanistan had participated in his abuse. Berlin says both Kurnaz and Masri were innocent and their arrests a mistake.

ITN Source | September 24, 2007

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