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Twist to terror suspects row as logs show 80 CIA
planes visited UK
By Stephen Grey and Luke Harding in Berlin
12/01/05 "The
Guardian" -- -- The transatlantic row over the secret
transfer of terror suspects by the Bush administration took a new
twist yesterday when it emerged that more than 300 flights operated
by the CIA had landed at European airports.
According to flight logs seen by the Guardian, Britain was second
only to Germany as a transit hub for the CIA, which stands accused
of operating a covert network of interrogation centres in eastern
Europe. Several European governments have launched urgent
investigations into whether clandestine CIA flights were used in the
aftermath of September 11 to transfer Islamist prisoners to third
countries where they could be interrogated beyond the reach of
international law.
The allegations have provoked a furore in Europe. On Tuesday the
foreign secretary, Jack Straw, acting on behalf of the EU, asked the
US to clarify whether planes containing terror suspects - known as
"rendition" flights - had stopped off in Europe. He also raised the
allegations made by Human Rights Watch earlier this month about
covert interrogation centres.
The US has so far refused to confirm or deny the reports. But on
Tuesday the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, told Germany's new
foreign minister, Franz-Walter Steinmeier, the administration would
respond. Ms Rice is likely to come under further pressure when she
visits Europe next week. The Guardian's survey of flight logs taken
from 26 CIA planes reveals a far higher level of activity than
previously known. The CIA visited Germany 96 times. Britain was
second with more than 80 flights by CIA-owned planes, although when
charter flights are added the figure rises to more than 200. France
was visited just twice and neutral Austria not at all, according to
the logs, which also reveal regular trips to eastern Europe,
including 15 visits to the Czech capital Prague.
Only one visit is recorded to the Szymany airbase in north-east
Poland, which has been identified as the alleged site of a secret
CIA jail. Poland and Romania have denied hosting CIA prisons.
While the logs show unprecedented CIA activity, they do not show
which planes were involved in prisoner transfers. In October and
December 2003 a CIA Boeing flew from RAF Northolt to Tripoli while
the CIA and MI6 were negotiating with Libya over its weapons of mass
destruction programme. In January 2004 the same Boeing was allegedly
involved in shipping suspects to a US prison in Afghanistan.
The European Council has appointed a special investigator and is
examining possible human rights violations by member countries. The
European Union has launched an inquiry and the Austrian government
has asked the US to explain a US C-130 Hercules that flew into its
airspace. The flight logs were obtained from Federal Aviation
Administration data and sources in the aviation industry.
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
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