MADRID (AP) — A Spanish lawmaker on Tuesday rejected the United States’ apology for the FBI’s using a photo of him to create a poster showing what Osama bin Laden might look like today, and demanded the U.S. investigate.
Gaspar Llamazares, of the United Left party, said he wanted to know if the FBI has a habit of keeping files on leftist politicians in the U.S., Europe, Latin American or elsewhere.
“Apologies are not enough,” he told a news conference at Parliament after the U.S. ambassador issued an apology Monday. “I want a thorough investigation into this disgraceful case, which not only causes concern but also worry and indignation over the behavior of the FBI.”
The FBI used parts of a photo of Llamazares taken from Google Images to create a digitally modified image of the al-Qaida leader for a new wanted poster, which appeared on the State Department Web site and offered a reward of up to $25 million.
The FBI said the forensic artist had been unable to find suitable features among the reference photographs of bin Laden, and in part used features from a photograph found online. The FBI has since removed the doctored photo of bin Laden from the site.
The picture of Llamazares had originally appeared on posters for the Spanish politician’s 2004 parliamentary election campaign.