Martelen 10

Dit zijn meneer en mevrouw Tuttle uit de Verenigde Staten, dat spreekt voor zich. Robert Tuttle was tot voor kort autohandelaar in Beverly Hills, waar de schatrijken van Californie wonen. Sinds deze zomer is Robert ambassadeur in Groot Brittannie. Die baan kocht hij van de regering Bush door grote sommen geld in het verkiezingsfonds van de Amerikaanse president te storten. Hoewel Tuttle goed kon liegen als autohandelaar moet hij het diplomatiek liegen en bedriegen nog onder de knie krijgen. Hij is daarin nog niet echt bedreven, zoals de Britse Guardian zijn lezers wist te melden. Common Dreams nam het artikel over: 'US Embassy Close to Admitting Syria Rendition FlightStatement contradicts ambassador's interview. The US embassy in London was forced to issue a correction yesterday to an interview given by the ambassador, Robert Tuttle, in which he claimed America would not fly suspected terrorists to Syria, which has one of the worst torture records in the Middle East. A statement acknowledged media reports of a suspect taken from the US to Syria. Torture is banned in the US but the CIA has been engaged in a policy of rendition, flying terrorist suspects to countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world where torture is commonplace. Although Mr Tuttle, a Beverly Hills car dealer and major donor to George Bush's re-election campaign, has been ambassador in London only since the summer, he is proving to be accident-prone. Last month he vigorously denied British media reports that American forces used white phosphorus as a weapon in Iraq, only to be undercut by an admission from the Pentagon the next day. Mr Tuttle gave an interview to the BBC Today programme on Thursday for broadcast yesterday morning. On Friday, the US embassy returned to the BBC with a lengthy statement of clarification, which was also broadcast yesterday at the end of the interview. Asked by the BBC if the US dumped suspects in Syria, Mr Tuttle said: "I don't think there is any evidence that there have been any renditions carried out in the country of Syria. There is no evidence of that. And I think we have to take what the secretary [Condoleezza Rice] says at face value. It is something very important, it is done very carefully and she has said we do not authorise, condone torture in any way, shape or form." A US embassy spokeswoman contacted the BBC on Friday to say the ambassador "recognised that there had been a media report of a rendition to Syria but reiterated that the United States is not in a position to comment on specific allegations of intelligence activities that appear in the press".' Lees verder: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1227-04.htm