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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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May 25th,
2008 - Secret CIA Flights Raise Political Storm in Portugal |
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Secret CIA Flights Raise
Political Storm in Portugal By Periódico 26 May 25, 2008 Lisbon - A political storm
is brewing in Portugal, with calls on the government to reveal details of
over 50 secret flights from the United States that overflew Portuguese
territory to and from the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo. The issue,
which has seen the light of day over the past year due to various leaks and
denunciations, took an official nature when the Minister of the Presidency,
Pedro Silva Pereira, publicly admitted the existence of such flights. According to Prensa Latina
News Agency, the Portuguese official confirmed the secret CIA flights in face
of reactions to a report from the Public Works ministry submitted to
parliament. The report says that 56 U.S. planes overflew or landed in
Portuguese territory in direction to or from Guantánamo. Silva Pereira said the
Portuguese government has nothing to hide or fear about the issue and
emphasized that the exclusive responsibility of those flights lies with the
United States and not with Portugal. In response, Socialist
Portuguese Eurodeputy Ana Gomes demanded the government make public the
registers to confirm if in fact those planes, controlled by the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), did not carry prisoners. The flights indicated in the
report presented to legislators occurred between July 2005 and December 2007,
after the parliament and the European Council had said they were against any
collaboration with prisoner transfers. The Institutes of Civil
Aviation (INAC) and Air Navigation (NAV) also have admitted that U.S.
military planes overflew and landed in Portugal between 2005 and 2007,
although they stressed that the responsibility lies with the government. External link: http://www.periodico26.cu/english/news_world/cia-portugal052508.html |