The transatlantic row over the secret transfer of terror suspects by the Bush administration took a new twist on Wednesday when it emerged that more than 300 flights operated by the CIA had landed at European airports.
According to flight logs, 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 British 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. 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 Unlimited Â