Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, yesterday launched a tour of Europe with a forceful warning that allies could not expect to share American intelligence and at the same time demand disclosure of details of the anti-terror operations.

Diplomats said Ms Rice's statement, made before leaving Washington for Berlin, was an attempt to put a cap on a growing controversy over alleged secret Central Intelligence Agency-run prisons in eastern Europe and the rendition of terrorist suspects to regimes where they may be tortured.