European governments, including Britain's, were under growing pressure last night to reveal the extent of their involvement in controversial US "extraordinary renditions".

Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State, said that statements of ignorance by European leaders such Jack Straw about the transport, detention and torture of suspects were not believable.

"There's a little bit of the movie Casablanca in this, where, you know, the inspector says, 'I'm shocked, shocked that this kind of thing [gambling] takes place'," he said in the interview with Sir David Frost.

Speaking on the BBC's World TV channel yesterday, Mr Powell criticised the US's European allies for feigning ignorance of rendition, and dismissed suggestions that governments were surprised that their airports may have been involved in rendition.

"Most of our European friends cannot be shocked that this kind of thing takes place. The fact is that we have, over the years, had procedures in place that would deal with people who are responsible for terrorist activities, or suspected terrorist activities, and so the thing that is called rendition is not something that is new or unknown to my European friends."

THE U.S. POLICY of "extraordinary rendition" has a human face, and it is mine.

I am still recovering from an experience that was completely beyond the pale, outside the bounds of any legal framework and unacceptable in any civilized society. Because I believe in the American system of justice, I sued George Tenet, the former CIA director, last week. What happened to me should never be allowed to happen again.

I was born in Kuwait and raised in Lebanon. In 1985, when Lebanon was being torn apart by civil war, I fled to Germany in search of a better life. There I became a citizen and started my own family. I have five children.

On Dec. 31, 2003, I took a bus from Germany to Macedonia. When we arrived, my nightmare began. Macedonian agents confiscated my passport and detained me for 23 days. I was not allowed to contact anyone, including my wife.

At the end of that time, I was forced to record a video saying I had been treated well. Then I was handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to a building where I was severely beaten. My clothes were sliced from my body with a knife or scissors, and my underwear was forcibly removed. I was thrown to the floor, my hands pulled behind me, a boot placed on my back. I was humiliated.

Eventually my blindfold was removed, and I saw men dressed in black, wearing black ski masks. I did not know their nationality. I was put in a diaper, a belt with chains to my wrists and ankles, earmuffs, eye pads, a blindfold and a hood. I was thrown into a plane, and my legs and arms were spread-eagled and secured to the floor. I felt two injections and became nearly unconscious. I felt the plane take off, land and take off. I learned later that I had been taken to Afghanistan.

There, I was beaten again and left in a small, dirty, cold concrete cell. I was extremely thirsty, but there was only a bottle of putrid water in the cell. I was refused fresh water.

British agents helped the Americans seize two UK residents and incarcerate them in Guantánamo Bay where they are still detained, a former Foreign Office minister said yesterday.

Chris Mullin, a former minister for Africa, told the Guardian that as a result Britain is morally obliged to help them.

Bisher al-Rawi, an Iraqi who had lived in Britain for nearly 20 years, and his friend, Jamil el-Banna, were seized in Gambia in 2002 while on a business trip.

The British government should take responsibility for their fate, Mr Mullin said. "It may not have a legal obligation but it has a moral obligation given that we played a part in putting them into Guantánamo Bay," he said. "They will rot there until someone pulls their finger out."

Mr Rawi and Mr Banna were held by British security and intelligence officers for three days before being released, he said. The officers then tipped off the Americans about their whereabouts.

The two businessmen have always said that British agents were complicit in their abduction at Banjul, the Gambian capital. Now a former minister responsible for Africa has backed up their claims.

OTTAWA (CP) - A plane owned by an alleged front for the U.S.     Central Intelligence Agency recently flew from Newfoundland to a Scottish airport that's under scrutiny as an apparent destination for numerous covert flights.

Records obtained by The Canadian Press show the Hercules aircraft landed at Gander, Nfld., on Nov. 28 before heading the next day to Prestwick Airport near Glasgow, Scotland.

The C-130 plane, with tail number N4557C, is registered to Rapid Air Transport Inc. of Beltsville, Md., identified by the New York Times as one of several shell companies controlled by the     CIA.

The Hercules, which flew to Newfoundland via New Hampshire, began its journey Nov. 27 at Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview, Fla., a reported hub for CIA-owned aircraft.

Scotland's Prestwick Airport has become the focal point of British controversy as the stopover point for a Gulfstream jet used to transport al-Qaida suspects to prisons in Egypt and Jordan.

The CIA has declined to comment on the movements of its alleged aircraft.

Though numerous planes appear to be tied to U.S. intelligence or law-enforcement services through front companies, it is sometimes unclear which agencies own or lease the aircraft.

Trade ministers adopted a compromise text Sunday to clear the way to a global trade deal in 2006, agreeing to cut farm trade export subsidies and providing special breaks for the poorest nations.

The document provides for European Union agricultural export subsidies to be scrapped by 2013, a key sticking point, which the United States and key developing nations had wanted removed in 2010.

Anti-poverty campaigners condemned the agreement as a betrayal of the poor but ministers from the main trading blocs welcomed it as a modest step forward which could pave the way for an overall trade liberalization accord in 2006.

"We are tipping the balance in the WTO back in favor of the developing countries," said WTO Director General Pascal Lamy after the agreement was finally approved after six grueling days of negotiations. "You have put the round back on track, you have given it a sense of urgency," Lamy said, referring to the Doha Round of trade negotiations launched in 2001 and due to be completed by the end of 2006.

Europe gives way

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the text was "acceptable" after other countries had accepted the EU compromise on the date. "Today, Europe has gone further on its existing commitment by setting a clear date, 2013, for the elimination of export subsidies," Mandelson said. "We have demanded and received equivalent movement from the other countries. While the outcome of Hong Kong is not a great success, this move of ours is enough to save it from failure."

INCREASE IN NATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS (2007-13 budget over 1999-2006):

Britain up 63%

France up 116%

PAYMENTS AS % OF GNI*

Britain 0.31%

France 0.36%

*European Commission definition

with a limited deal centred on the ending of European farm export subsidies by 2013.

The deal ends ALL farm export subsidies, not just European. Is it just incompetence, or have these journalists been brainwashed to the point where Europe = farm subsidies = evil and nothing else can enter that equation?

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

Angela Merkel, Germany's new chancellor, emerged into the chilly night air of Brussels shortly after 3am on Saturday hailed by politicians and international media as the key figure in reaching a deal on the European Union budget.

Ms Merkel, dubbed "Miss Europe" by the German tabloid Bild am Sonntag, combined pragmatism, persuasion and toughness during the two days of talks.

"Angela Merkel impresses Europe" was the front page headline in the upmarket Frankfurter AllgemeineSonntagszeitung, which argued that the chancellor had gained significant influence that could now be deployed to address some of the other political problems facing the EU.

Like Gerhard Schröder, her predecessor, Ms Merkel worked alongside President Jacques Chirac of France in seeking a deal. Unlike the Schröder-Chirac double act, she did not alienate Britain and Poland in the process. British officials say a deal "would have been impossible" had Mr Schröder been at the summit, arguing that he used to encourage Mr Chirac to go on "an anti-British rampage".

They say Ms Merkel helped to broker a Franco-British agreement over a final €10.5bn (£7bn) cut to the UK rebate.

"Merkel told Chirac to drop his demands for the total to be €14bn," claimed one British official.

Ms Merkel refused to bow to Mr Chirac in his summit quest to win EU permission to cut value added tax in French restaurants from 19.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent, a pledge in his 2002 election campaign.

"Chirac deployed all his charm," recounts one German official. "But she explained she couldn't raise VAT at home while approving VAT cuts in other countries at an EU summit."

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A deal on the European Union's long-term budget has drawn a line under an "annus horribilis" of political setbacks but it may take a generation change in leaders before the 25-nation bloc finds new momentum.

Saturday's middle-of-the-night compromise on the 2007-13 budget averted a deeper crisis after a grim year marked by the rejection of the EU's constitution by French and Dutch voters, economic stagnation in western Europe, conflicts over trade and finances, and personal recrimination among EU leaders.

But it left unresolved the disputes on which Europe clashed in 2005: "deepening" of European integration versus "widening" to still more members; liberalizing economic reforms versus social and trade protection; investing EU funds in research and development or in agriculture.

"The EU crisis has not yet been overcome with this summit," European Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
"The Austrian presidency must provide an answer to the big questions. That includes in particular: how many members can the EU cope with?" he said. Austria takes over the EU chair from Britain for six months on January 1.

While it will not inherit the budget impasse that diplomats in Vienna had feared most, it faces a daunting task conducting a promised debate on the future of the EU's creaking institutions and the scope of future enlargement.

The EU must also tackle an unresolved battle over how far to open up cross-border competition in the services sector, which the European Commission sees as key to boosting economic growth.

Weekend newspapers in Europe express some relief at the EU budget deal, but the overall response is broadly unenthusiastic.

French newspapers highlight the British "concessions" which they believe enabled leaders to reach an agreement.

"The European leaders wrung out a crucial agreement... thanks to the concessions made by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, notably on his country's rebate," Le Monde says.

In similar vein, Liberation believes that the "last-minute agreement" was achieved "thanks to concessions by British Prime Minister Tony Blair".

Another paper, Le Nouvel Observateur, takes a broader view and expresses relief at the outcome.
"This agreement on the first budget of the enlargement - delivered through a painful labour - makes it possible to break the deadlock in which the EU had found itself since the French and Dutch "No" to the Constitution and the failure of the June summit on the budget," it says.

The epithet most usually added to the name of Wolfgang Schüssel is "wily", reflecting the Austrian chancellor's skills as a tactician and negotiator after 37 years in politics, the past 15 as a minister and five as his country's leader.

But even at 60, Mr Schüssel, responsible for economics and foreign policy before becoming chancellor in 2000, will need every grain of his political judgment to steer the European Union during next year's Austrian presidency.

Leader of the centre-right People's party, the bespectacled Mr Schüssel has direct experience of the ups and downs of European politics. In 2000, he faced EU-wide opprobrium after forming a coalition with the ultra rightwing Freedom party. Joining forces with Jörg Haider, the driving force of the Freedom party - and well known for his positive comments about the Nazis - led to a period of virtual diplomatic isolation for Austria.

Domestically, the tactic paid off in introducing fresh policies after decades of stifling "grand coalitions" between the People's party and the Social Democrats, Austria's two dominant political groupings. And, as Mr Schüssel probably suspected, Mr Haider's influence waned rapidly as his party descended into internal quarrels and divisions.

Although the days of Austria's exclusion are long over, the hostility of many EU leaders and commentators has left its mark on the urbane Mr Schüssel. His once characteristic bow ties, for example, were discarded after a cartoonist combined the distinctive neckwear with the design of a "no entry" traffic sign as a simple, starkly effective depiction of Austria's diplomatic isolation

Like Gerhard Schröder, her predecessor, Ms Merkel worked alongside President Jacques Chirac of France in seeking a deal.

Here:

Much to Mr Blair's delight, and French President Jacques Chirac's dismay, she abandoned the tactics of her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder. Rather than considering the Franco-German axis as the paramount motor of Europe, she acted as an independent arbitrator.

The FT, as usual, is closer to the truth, but the Murdoch press will always be on the lookout for any sign that allows them to say that France and Germany are split.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

Reports that Chancellor Gordon Brown is unhappy with the EU budget deal struck by Tony Blair have been dismissed by a Downing Street spokesman.

Some Sunday newspapers said Mr Brown was unhappy the deal would cost the UK an extra £1bn a year and that he had not taken part in final negotiations.
The spokesman said the Treasury had worked closely with No 10 on the deal.

...
Tory MP Bill Cash told the Sunday Times newspaper: "Tony Blair has handed Gordon Brown a poisoned chalice with this deal.

"He will have to find an extra £1bn a year, money that could have gone on hospitals and schools.

"This will spell real trouble for Brown and I can see why he would be angry."

But the Downing Street spokesman said: "We negotiated as a government.

"Officials from the Foreign Office, Treasury and No 10 worked closely together under the prime minister and foreign secretary before and during the two days of the European Council to get this good deal."

Tony Blair's sacrifice over Britain's European Union rebate has left his Chancellor to plug a multi-billion pound hole in this country's future spending plans, it emerged last night.

Gordon Brown will have to find between £1bn and £2bn a year that would otherwise have been available to spend between 2008-11, a key period for investment in health, education and frontline services before the next election.

Treasury sources last night played down suggestions that Brown was angry about the move or had been not been told what was happening. Although Blair did not consult his Chancellor directly before tabling a more generous offer on Friday afternoon, which finally clinched a deal on the EU budget, a senior Treasury official was with the Prime Minister in Brussels.

However officials confirmed the 'spending envelope' for the next review of government spending, which is already so tight that it is causing tensions across Whitehall, would be affected by the loss of over £7bn from Britain's future rebate.

· PM claims victory in face of widespread criticism
· Pro- and anti-EU MPs line up to attack deal

Britain's EU budget rebate will increase under the compromise hammered out at the Brussels summit, Tony Blair will tell MPs today. The average annual rebate in the six-year budget cycle just ending was £3.6bn, and because of the way it is calculated, would have risen to an average £5.3bn a year in the new cycle, he will tell the Commons.

Despite offering £1bn a year on that rebate to help modernise the new eastern European states, the prime minister will argue that not only has he retained the rebate but it will increase to around £4.3bn annually up to 2013.

In a major shift of budget cash from the rich west to the EU's poor east, Britain's net contributions will rise significantly, though by half as much as Italy and France, which will at last be paying roughly the same share of national income to the EU as Britain. But the principle of the rebate has been retained, along with 80% of its value - the very point his critics accuse Mr Blair of betraying.

Faced with accusations of betrayal and incompetence, Mr Blair will round on Tory critics and say they led the campaign in the 90s to admit the impoverished ex-Soviet bloc states, and should accept the need to provide them with financial help.

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (AP) - Evo Morales, the socialist coca farmer who would be Bolivia's first Indian president, appeared poised to join the ranks of like-minded leaders who have pushed Latin America's democracies to the left in recent years.

With exit polls running strongly in his favor, Morales took an early congratulatory phone call from Venezuela's belligerently anti-American president Hugo Chavez.

At a party at Morales' home in Cochabamba, his supporters toasted as the candidate announced that Chavez planned to contact Cuba's Fidel Castro.

Said Morales of Chavez: ``He's going to tell Fidel the good news'' - eliciting laughs from those nearby.

Morales has promised to be ``Washington's nightmare,'' indicating he would exercise more state control over South America's second-largest natural gas reserves and bring an end to U.S.-backed coca eradication efforts.

A Morales presidency in Bolivia would signal further movement to the political left among Latin America's democracies. The political shift has brought leaders ranging from Chavez in Venezuela to the moderate center-left presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

Do you think their canine magic will help in the polls? Maybe get our mind off the NSA wire taps, misnomered "Patriot Act", 30000 Iraqi deaths, renditions, concentration camps, Cunningham, Delay, Abramoff, torture galore?