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EU concealed deal with US to allow 'rendition'
flights
By Justin Stares in Brussels and Philip Sherwell in Washington
12/11/05 "The
Telegraph" -- -- The European Union secretly allowed
the United States to use transit facilities on European soil to
transport "criminals" in 2003, according to a previously unpublished
document. The revelation contradicts repeated EU denials that it
knew of "rendition" flights by the CIA.
The EU agreed to give America access to facilities - presumably
airports - in confidential talks in Athens during which the war on
terror was discussed, the original minutes show. But all references
to the agreement were deleted from the record before it was
published.
The issue of "rendition" flights - in which terror suspects are
flown to secret bases and third countries for interrogation -
overshadowed last week's fence-mending visit to Europe by
Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State.
Asked in Parliament last week about reports of 400 suspect flights
passing through British airports, Tony Blair said: "In respect of
airports, I don't know what you are referring to."
The minutes of the Athens meeting on January 22, 2003, were written
by the then Greek presidency of the EU after the talks with a US
delegation headed by a justice department official. EU officials
confirmed that a full account was circulated to all member
governments, and would have been sent to the Home Office.
The document, entitled New Transatlantic Agenda, EU-US meeting on
Justice and Home Affairs, details the subjects discussed by the 31
people present. The agenda included the fight against terrorism,
drug trafficking and extradition agreements.
According to the full version, "Both sides agreed on areas where
co-operation could be improved [inter alia] the exchange of data
between border management services, increased use of European
transit facilities to support the return of criminal/ inadmissible
aliens, co-ordination with regard to false documents training and
improving the co-operation in removals."
But this section, and others referring to US policy, were deleted -
as a "courtesy" to Washington, according to a spokesman for the EU
Council of Ministers.
Tony Bunyan, of the Statewatch civil liberties group which obtained
the original document, said: "What kind of facilities are these and
how many people work there? That phrase suggests the US is being
allowed to use airports in Europe to transport criminals from third
countries."
Washington has been angered by EU protests about the movement and
alleged abuse of terror suspects. Yesterday, John Bellinger, senior
legal adviser to the US State Department, said the convention
against torture, which the US has signed, "would generally apply" to
prisoners held by the US.
He said on BBC radio: "Some of the allegations more broadly about
all sorts of things are ludicrous. These allegations that we have
these activities going on in the hundreds over Europe, and that we
are going to take people off to be mistreated, are simply untrue."
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005
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