CIA verzocht Duitsland om aandacht van EU voor mensenrechten af te leiden (en)

Germany was told by US secret service agents to "avert pressure from the EU" and keep silent on human rights abuses in Morocco where a German terror suspect was being held, according to a UK daily.

The Guardian reported on Thursday (26 October) that the CIA, the US intelligence agency, pressed Berlin to silence EU complaints over the human rights situation in Morocco.

The CIA demand was in return for German officials being allowed to visit a German national held in a Moroccan jail, suspected of being involved in the September 11 attacks, according to a secret intelligence report.

The classified report, prepared for the German parliament last February and seen by the newspaper, describes Morocco as a "valuable partner in the fight against terrorism."

Germany did eventually get access to its national - an alleged Al-Quaeda member arrested in Morocco in 2002 - but had to bow to US pressure on keeping silent on human rights.

"After the CIA offered a deal to Germany, EU countries adopted an almost universal policy of downplaying criticism of human rights records in countries where terrorist suspects have been held," the Guardian writes.

The revelation sheds new light on the CIA affair, which has so far mainly embarrassed EU governments on their complicity in the CIA using European airports for its "rendition flights" carrying terror suspects.

The alleged US-German deal suggests that Washington also seeks influence in parts of EU foreign policy, with Morocco being part of the union's neighbourhood policy scheme.

The aim of the EU's neighbourhood policy is to offer neighbouring states a privileged relationship building upon a "mutual commitment to common values" such as democracy and human rights.