CIA running secret prison system: report

The CIA is running a secret prison system in Eastern Europe to interrogate key al-Qaeda captives, according to a published report.

The Washington Post reported that the Soviet-era compound is part of a covert prison system that has been run for nearly four years by the U.S. spy agency as part of Washington's war on terrorism.

The paper said there are sites in at least eight countries, including Thailand and Afghanistan as well as several democracies in Eastern Europe.

But the Post said it is not publishing the names of the Eastern European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials.

They argued that the disclosure might disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and could make them targets of possible terrorist retaliation.

The existence and locations of the facilities are known to only a handful of top officials in the U.S.

No information is known about the facilities, including who is kept there, how decisions are made about the detainees and how long they are detained.

The secret detention system was conceived in the first months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Post said CIA officials have been increasingly debating the system, questioning the legality, morality and practicality of holding suspects in isolation and secrecy.