Germany has ordered the arrest of 13 people over the alleged CIA-backed abduction of a Lebanese-born German man.
It is claimed that Khaled el-Masri was abducted by US agents in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, on New Year's Eve 2003 and flown to a prison in Afghanistan for interrogation before he was released five months later in Albania.
Mr Masri has said he was tortured while imprisoned.
Prosecutors have now issued arrest warrants on suspicion of abduction and grievous bodily harm in connection with the case of so-called 'extraordinary rendition'.
It is understood that a list has been obtained containing the names of the people on board the plane that took Mr Masri to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the prosecutor's office said that according to its information, the suspects listed in the arrest warrants are believed to be code names of CIA agents. The investigation will now focus on learning the actual names of the suspects.
Most of the CIA employees sought live in the US state of North Carolina, however the German arrest warrants are not valid in the US and US authorities have refused to co-operate with the investigation.
