US court throws out CIA torture case

A US federal appeals court on Friday upheld a refusal to hear the case of a Lebanese-born German man who says he was tortured by the CIA, citing national security reasons. Khaled el-Masri claims was detained by the CIA for several months in 2004 on suspicion of links to terrorism. Masri, 43, filed suit in December 2005 saying he had been snatched while on a trip in Macedonia, taken to Afghanistan, jailed, beaten and harassed before being set free without charge after five months. He demanded an explanation and an apology from the United States for his detention, as well as 75,000 dollars in damages. The US government had urged the court to reject the appeal saying that for national security reasons it could not confirm or deny any of the allegations because they were related to the activities of the CIA.