(From the diaries -- Plutonium Page.)
The CIA rendition story is heating up again, this time in Europe. A few days ago, we already saw the story about US terror prisons in Eastern Europe and other places.
Now, more reports are popping up about the CIA, without authorization, using several additional European airports. In several of these countries, investigations are starting.
[all emphasis in the quotes is mine]
A few days ago, it was reported that the CIA used the airport on the
Spanish island of Mallorca:
Spain has launched a judicial inquiry into allegations that CIA aircraft may have secretly used a Spanish airport to transport terror suspects to clandestine interrogation camps, Jose Antonio Alonso, the Interior Minister, said.
If the allegations proved true, Mr Alonso warned, "we would be looking at extremely serious, absolutely intolerable acts that violate rules for treating prisoners in a democratic society, and would demand a government response that would affect bilateral relations". The dispute deals a further blow to US-Spanish relations, already bruised by Spain's withdrawal of troops from Iraq last year.
Ouch. But, that's not all. The story later spread to the Canary Islands:
The Canary Islands government said Wednesday that in May it had asked the central government to explain local newspaper reports that suspected CIA planes had made stopovers five times on the island of Tenerife between March 2004 and May 2005.
But, that's still not all. It was reported a while ago that rendition flights also used airports in the UK, and, as the above report notes, several other countries, who are launching investigations:
Italian prosecutors are seeking the extradition of 22 purported CIA operatives accused of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric, Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, in 2003 in Milan.
German prosecutors are investigating the same case on grounds that one of the CIA agents may have touched German soil when the plane carrying the suspect to Egypt passed through Ramstein Air Base. The base is considered U.S. territory. Nasr was allegedly tortured in Egypt.
But wait, there's more. Further investigations are being done in Norway and Sweden, as this Deutsche Presse Agentur report notes:
Norway and Sweden said Wednesday they were investigating reports that planes linked to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have made stopovers in their countries
And then there's Iceland, from the same report:
Iceland's Prime Minister Halldor Asgrimsson has earlier said his government was not aware that alleged CIA planes have made some 67 stopovers at Iceland since 2001, according to estimates compiled by Icelandic TV station Stod 2 and newspaper Morgunbladid.
Guess an investigation isn't far off there either, since the Icelandic Prime Minister has condemned rendition.
To top it all off, some higher-level investigations are (possibly) being launched.
It's unclear what the tone of these reports will be, since often, in these matters, governments don't want to damage relations and would rather not make a big stink. However, the Bush administration has not exactly been a shining example of diplomatic finesse towards some of these countries, so it'll be interesting to see how this works out.
In any case, it is good that more light will be shone on the despicable practice of rendition.