German Got Compensated for Kidnapping From U.S., Schaeuble Says - Bloomberg.com: Germany

Bloomberg.com: Germany:

"Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent, has received compensation from the U.S. for an alleged kidnapping by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency last year, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Schaeuble told the upper house of parliament yesterday that U.S. ambassador Daniel Coats on May 31, 2004, confidentially informed former Interior Minister Otto Schily about el-Masri's abduction in Macedonia and his deportation to Afghanistan in 2003.

Schaeuble told parliament late last night in Berlin that, according to Coats, the U.S. ``has apologized to the affected person, agreed on silence and paid him an amount of money,'' the transcript of Schaeuble's speech shows. El-Masri's defense lawyer Manfred Gnjidic didn't return calls to his office for comments."