Obama administration attempts to block CIA suit

SAN FRANCISCO—The Obama administration is asking a federal appeals court to reverse its ruling that foreign prisoners can sue a company accused of helping plan secret CIA torture flights.

The U.S. Justice Department argues in a filing Friday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that permitting a lawsuit over the government's extraordinary rendition program "would pose an unacceptable risk to national security."

The CIA is accused of ferrying the terror suspects to other nations to be tortured. An appeals court panel ruled April 28 that the lawsuit can continue.

The five plaintiffs are suing Jeppesen Dataplan, a San Jose subsidiary of the Boeing Co. Three were eventually released without charges, while the others are in custody in Egypt and Morocco.