CIA planes reportedly made at least 10 secret stop-offs at Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands.

PARIS, November 17, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Concerns have run high in Europe over flights of CIA-operated planes in their airports to transfer "terror suspects" with many countries launching investigations into the claims.

News reports revealed that many European and north African countries have been linked to the CIA operations to transit prisoners subjected to extra-judicial detention and torture.

Germany Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden have all been used as a "transit camp."

In Norway, a US embassy official was summoned over the landing of a CIA-operated plane on July 20 in the Norwegian capital, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported Wednesday, November 17.

According to a foreign ministry spokesman, the official "denied that the plane in question had been used by the American authorities at the time."

Sweden similarly demanded "complete information" from its civil aviation authorities over reports that at least two CIA-operated planes had landed at Swedish airports over the past three years.

The TT news agency reported that one of these CIA flights was used at the US base at Guantanamo Bay for transporting prisoners.

According to the Washington Post, the CIA has established secret prisons in at least eight countries, including Thailand, and several eastern European democracies.

A former Moroccan agent with the national DST intelligence service said Morocco had directly participated in the CIA operations with at least 10 flights carrying prisoners landing in the Arab country between December 2002 and February this year.

A report by the Spanish civil guard, which has military and police functions, said prisoner transport planes made at least 10 secret stop-offs at Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands between January 22, 2004 and January 17, 2005, according to El Pais daily.

Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said if such reports proved true, it could damage relations between Madrid and Washington.

The European Commission had warned that any European country proved to host secret CIA-run jails could face "severe action" by the European Union.

Many eastern European US allies, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania denied hosting CIA-run prisons.

Only the Czech Republic has gone as far as saying it turned down a US demand to house prisoners previously held at Guantanamo on its soil.

The US Senate has asked the CIA to inform it as to the precise nature of its prisoner transport operations.

Following that report, the CIA called on the Justice Department to hold an inquiry into the "information leaks" on the prisons.