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| Rumsfeld faces German legal test | Rumsfeld faces German legal test |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A lawyers' group has asked Germany to sue former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over alleged prisoner abuse in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. | |
| The complaint was filed by the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of a Saudi man held in Cuba and 11 Iraqis held in Baghdad. | |
| German law allows the pursuit of cases originating anywhere in the world. | German law allows the pursuit of cases originating anywhere in the world. |
| State prosecutors have yet to decide whether to pursue the case. An earlier request for a case in 2004 was dropped. | |
| Michael Ratner, the centre's president, said he felt the case had a better chance of success now because Mr Rumsfeld was no longer in office and could not exert the same degree of "political pressure". | |
| He added that the centre had more evidence than it did in 2004, citing the case of a detained Saudi national, Mohamad al-Qahtani. | |
| "Al-Qahtani was a man who the US alleged is al-Qaeda, who is in Guantanamo and exposed was the entire torture log of al-Qahtani over a period of two months," Mr Ratner told the BBC. | "Al-Qahtani was a man who the US alleged is al-Qaeda, who is in Guantanamo and exposed was the entire torture log of al-Qahtani over a period of two months," Mr Ratner told the BBC. |
| Resignation | Resignation |
| The Center for Constitutional Rights argues that Mr Rumsfeld was instrumental in abuses committed at Guantanamo Bay and at Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad. | |
| The group of international lawyers alleges that Mr Rumsfeld personally approved the use of torture to extract information from the prisoners. | |
| Wolfgang Kaleck, the lawyer leading the attempt to bring the case, said former US Army Brig-Gen Janis Karpinski would be the "star witness". | |
| Ms Karpinski was commander of US prisons in Iraq when several prisoners were abused by US soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib facility. | Ms Karpinski was commander of US prisons in Iraq when several prisoners were abused by US soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib facility. |
| Mr Rumsfeld resigned on Wednesday following Republican losses to the Democrats in the US mid-term elections. | Mr Rumsfeld resigned on Wednesday following Republican losses to the Democrats in the US mid-term elections. |
| The US denies any torture has taken place at Guantanamo Bay and has defended its interrogation techniques. | The US denies any torture has taken place at Guantanamo Bay and has defended its interrogation techniques. |
| Abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib was brought to world attention after soldiers' photographs of the incidents were released and published. | Abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib was brought to world attention after soldiers' photographs of the incidents were released and published. |
| Ten US soldiers have been found guilty of abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. The US says they were acting without official sanction. |