(8 Sep 2007) SHOTLIST
1. People seated for press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English): General Michael Hayden, Central Intelligence Agency director:
"We assess once again with high confidence that al-Qaida is focusing on targets that would produce mass casualties, dramatic destruction and significant economic aftershocks."
3. Cutaway of photographers
4. SOUNDBITE (English): General Michael Hayden, Central Intelligence Agency director:
"A European Parliament temporary committee has claimed that, and I'm quoting now, 'at least 1245 flights operated by the CIA flew into European air space or stopped over at European airports between the end of 2001 and the end of 2005.' And the report said so in a context that implied that many of even most of these were rendition flights. The actual number of rendition flights ever flown by CIA is a tiny fraction of that."
5. Mid shot of audience
STORYLINE:
Most of the information in a July intelligence report on the terrorist threat to the United States came from the US government's much-criticised program of detaining and interrogating prisoners, CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) director General Michael Hayden said Friday in defending the
policy.
The CIA has detained fewer than 100 people at secret facilities abroad since the capture of Abu Zubaydah in 2002, Hayden told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, according to an advance copy of his speech.
He staunchly defended the program, saying even fewer prisoners have been rendered to or from foreign governments.
The CIA director said 70 percent of the information contained in the National Intelligence Estimate on the terrorist threat, which was released in July, came from the interrogation of detainees.
Hayden said claims by the European Parliament that at least 1,245 CIA flights transited European airspace or airports are misleading because they implied that most of those flights were rendition flights.
"The actual number of rendition flights ever flown by CIA is a tiny fraction of that. And the suggestion that even a substantial number of those 1,245 flights were carrying detainees is absurd on its face," he said.
Hayden said many flights carried equipment, documents and people, including himself, and had nothing to do with the extraordinary rendition program.
The use of extraordinary rendition for terror suspects - some of whom were later released, apparently because they were innocent - was revealed by news media in 2005.
Extraordinary rendition refers to the practice of secretly transferring prisoners from US control into the control of foreign governments for interrogation, some of have a history of torture.
The United States government says it does so only after it is assured that transferred prisoners will not be subjected to torture.
Hayden said Friday such leaks to the press harm national security.

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