The German authorities have received reports of 437 flights by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through Germany in recent years, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

Two aircraft, registered to private companies but to carry out CIA work, passed through German airspace or touched down on German soil 137 times in 2002 and 146 times in 2003, according to the report.

The airplanes stopped in Berlin, Frankfurt and the US Ramstein Air Force Base.

However, the list, compiled by the national air traffic control service in response to a question from the Left Party, gave no indication what was aboard the planes, the report said.

European and American reports had said that the CIA secretly transported terrorist suspects to locations in Central and Eastern Europe for interrogation via European airports.

Germany wants Washington to make a clarification over the issue.

Source: Xinhua