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WikiLeaks Docs: Torture-Linked Egyptian Police Trained in U.S.

HeadlineFeb 10, 2011

Newly released classified U.S. diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks have shed more light on the key U.S. support for human rights abuses under Mubarak’s regime in Egypt. The cables show Egyptian secret police received training at the FBI’s facility in Quantico, Virginia, even as U.S. diplomats in Egypt sent dispatches alleging extensive abuse under their watch. Coincidentally, Quantico also hosts the military base where alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning is being held in solitary confinement. A cable from October 2009 cites allegations from “credible” sources that some prisoners were tortured “with electric shocks and sleep deprivation to reduce them to a 'zombie state.'” One cable from November 2007 shows then-FBI deputy director John Pistole praised the head of Egypt’s secret police for “excellent and strong” cooperation between the two agencies. Pistole currently heads the Transportation Security Administration in the United States.

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