WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, facing a potential new rift in transatlantic relations, warned European leaders Monday that objections to the U.S. treatment of terrorism suspects overseas could damage efforts to protect their own citizens from terrorist attacks.
Rice embarked on a trip to Europe amid a monthlong furor over alleged secret CIA prisons there and widening suspicions by European leaders and citizens alike that U.S. agencies have adopted brutal tactics in dealing with terrorism suspects.
But in response to a call for clarification from European leaders, Rice was unyielding Monday. She declared that the United States does not torture prisoners or hand them over to governments that do, but she refused to confirm or deny that the U.S. government maintains secret prisons around the world -- called "black sites" by critics -- to detain terrorism suspects, a chief concern of many of the Europeans.
Rice also staunchly defended the U.S. practice of "rendition" -- sending suspects to another country for interrogation, often after arresting them on the streets of a foreign country outside local law.
She said that when U.S. and European officials cooperate in the "two-way street" of counter-terrorism, "we share intelligence that has helped protect European countries from attack, helping save European lives."
It was the most detailed U.S. response to growing world concern and anger over American treatment of detainees that has been fueled by abuses at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, questions about the detention center at the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and allegations of abuses elsewhere. But most critics and human rights organizations were unconvinced, citing Rice's statements as evidence of questionable U.S. policies.
Rice's comments came at the start of a five-day trip on which she is likely to be questioned repeatedly by European officials about reports that the CIA has been flying terrorism suspects to eight alleged secret prison sites for questioning. Several European governments, under public pressure to learn whether the United States is violating European sovereignty or human rights standards, are investigating the reports.
