Malta's position on secret CIA flights

The Government should make its position clear in view of reports that Malta was used by the CIA as a stopover point for secret flights transporting suspected terrorists, Labour Party MEP Joseph Muscat said.

The people who were arrested or abducted were taken to "presumed secret detention centres both in Europe and in countries where torture is common practice".

He said reports by human rights organisations and the media had so far indicated that there had been at least five occasions when CIA flights stopped in Malta.

"The fight against terrorism should be a forceful one. Nevertheless, fundamental human rights should be respected. A country using another country to transport persons to a detention centre to be subject possibly to torture is not on. The government should state whether it knew about these operations."

The Labour MEP said that the governments of other countries, including Denmark, Germany and Sweden, had ordered inquiries into similar reports.

An inquiry is being carried out by the Council of Europe, which has already described the allegations as "credible".