Germany to take up CIA flights issue with Rice

Wilhelm said Germany had several ‘‘concrete questions’’ to ask about the list, but would not elaborate.

When the news of the list surfaced during the weekend, a government spokesman noted that US-operated flights as such are not unusual under Nato agreements. He, however, noted that a list of aircraft movements would not detail the purpose of such flights or who ordered them.

Allegations that the CIA ran prisons for al-Qaida captives in eastern Europe and operated clandestine flights for prisoners — using airports in Germany and elsewhere — have cast a new shadow over relations between Europe and the United States.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier raised the issue with Rice during a visit to Washington on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Merkel told parliament she was confident ‘‘that the American government is taking European concerns seriously and in the near future will clear up the recent reports on apparent CIA prisons and illegal flights’’.