Rice admits mistakes in terror war; vows to fix

Refuses to comment on Masri allegations Statements don’t jive with German leader’s

BERLIN— U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a rare concession to critics of U. S. policy, conceded yesterday that Washington may make mistakes in its war against terrorism and promised to put them right if they happen. But her efforts to present a united front with European allies suffered a setback when U. S. officials took issue with comments by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sensitive case of a German national who says the CIA abducted him.

Merkel told a joint news conference with Rice in Berlin that the United States had acknowledged it made a mistake in the case of Khaled el- Masri, who says he was flown to Afghanistan by U. S. agents and jailed for five months last year before being freed.

Masri is suing the CIA for wrongful imprisonment but was refused entry to the United States on Saturday.

“I’m pleased to say that we spoke about the individual case, which was accepted by the United States as a mistake," Merkel said in response to questions about the Masri case, which has caused a furor in Germany. But senior U. S. officials, travelling to Romania with Rice on the next leg of her European tour, said Rice had not admitted a U. S. mistake over Masri. The U. S. government had informed Germany about his detention and release but did not say that was a mistake, one senior administration official told reporters. “ We are not quite sure what was in her head,” he said, referring to Merkel. The differences marred the first stage of a delicate European mission by Rice, under pressure to respond to allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency has run secret prisons in eastern Europe and covertly transferred terrorist suspects across the continent.

In a sign she could expect tough questions from other European nations later in the week, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot told his lower house of parliament that the U. S. response to the allegations had been unsatisfactory. He told a lower house session the answers Rice had given were “ not satisfactory” and he expected a “ lively discussion with Rice and foreign ministers of NATO member states on Thursday in Brussels,” the Dutch news agency ANP said.

In her public comments, Rice refused to discuss individual cases but acknowledged in general that mistakes could happen: “ Any policy will sometimes result in errors, and when it happens, we will do everything we can to rectify it.” A U. S. civil liberties group yesterday filed a lawsuit on Masri’s behalf against former CIA director George Tenet and other officials, alleging wrongful imprisonment.