Washington, UNITED STATES: Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attends a press conference for German national Khaled El-Masri 29 November, 2006 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. El-Masri, an unemployed car salesman of Lebanese origin and father of five, sued the Central Intelligence Agency in December 2005, charging that he was seized from his hotel in 2004 during a visit to Macedonia and taken to a US-run prison in Afghanistan, where he was beaten and released after five months in captivity without charges. He wants the US government to apologize and wants 75,000 dollars in damages. A lower US court rejected his complaint in May, citing the need to preserve state secrets. The US government argued that the CIA could not address the charges without damaging national security. AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)