|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
|
December 1st,
2008 - Spain ‘Authorised’ CIA Rendition Flights |
|
Spain ‘Authorised’ CIA Rendition
Flights An investigation has been launched after it emerged that the former
conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar allowed controversial CIA flights
to land on Spanish soil. By Fiona Govan Daily Telegraph December 1, 2008 Spain has previously denied
all knowledge of "secret stopover" flights by CIA planes
transporting terror suspects to the US military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But a "top secret"
document leaked to Spanish daily newspaper El Pais shows that permission was
sought by the US from Spain's Foreign Ministry in early 2002. The request was communicated
to Josep Pique, then foreign minister, hours before a CIA flight landed at
Moron airbase in southwest Spain, the newspaper claimed. Mr Aznar's government allegedly
recommended that "discreet" airports be used for the stopover of
rendition flights. Former Prime Minister Aznar,
who backed the US war of terror and was in power when the flights allegedly
started, has previously denied any knowledge of the stopovers. The foreign minister, Miguel
Angel Moratinos, said on Sunday that the socialist government, which came to
power in March 2004, had not been informed about such an authorisation and
would launch an internal investigation into the matter. "We have nothing to
hide," he said. The European Union's top
human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, published a report in June 2006
that named Spain as one of 14 European countries allegedly in collusion with
the CIA to transport terrorist suspects on secret flights to third party
countries for interrogation. "The Spanish government
reasserts its full commitment to the defence of human rights," read a
statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Sunday. "It has not and will
not allow any violation of these rights on its territory in connection with
the so-called CIA flights." External link: http://tinyurl.com/6ascsj |