Rendition

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shanghaiceltic

Board Royalty

Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 7618
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 - 06:18 AM
Post subject: Rendition

Finally they have admitted it did happen, but because of an administrative error in the CIA they did not really know....hmmm I smell bull feces.

British airport used for US rendition flights

By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Last Updated: 6:01pm GMT 21/02/2008

A British overseas base was used for American "torture" flights the Government has been forced to admit, despite categorical denials of British involvement from both Tony Blair and Jack Straw.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, was forced to apologise to MPs and Gordon Brown said he shared the "disappointment with what has happened."

David Miliband; British airports 'used for US rendition flights'
David Miliband has said he is 'very sorry indeed' that the Commons was unintentionally mislead

In a major embarrassment for ministers Mr Miliband told the Commons that new information from the American Government had revealed that Diego Garcia, a British air force base in the Indian Ocean, had been used for two rendition flights.

America has used flights interrogate terror suspects – in particular since the attacks on America on 9/11.

One of the flights that has now come to light was stopping off on the way to the American detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.

Mr Miliband said he was "very sorry indeed" to have to correct previous statements made by then Prime Minister Mr Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that rendition flights had not used British bases.

He said the cases involving Diego Garcia had not come to light before because of an "error" in an earlier US records search.

He said: "The House and the Government will share deep disappointment at this news, and about its late emergence. That disappointment is shared by our US allies.
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"They recognise the absolute imperative for the British Government to provide accurate information to Parliament. I reaffirm the Government's commitment to that imperative today."

Mr Miliband said that in each of the two cases, the aircraft involved had been carrying a single detainee - neither of them British - who did not leave the plane while it was on the ground at Diego Garcia.

He told MPs that neither suspect was subject to "water-boarding". One of those detainees has since been released but the other is still being held by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay.

The revelation brought a stinging attack from Mike Gapes, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, who had been told by ministers and Mr Blair that rendition flights had not involved Britain.

He said the United States and the Bush administration had "misled and lied" to "our Government."

In December 2005 Mr Straw told MPs that "careful research by officials has been unable to identify any occasion since 11 September 2001, or earlier in the Bush administration, when we received a request for permission by the United States for a rendition through UK territory or airspace, nor are we otherwise aware of such a case."

And in January last year Mr Blair gave an assurance to the Intelligence and Security Committee that he was satisfied that the US had at no time since 9/11 rendered an individual though the UK or its overseas territories.

Mr Miliband said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shared his "deep regret" that the information had only recently come to light.

He said Ms Rice "has underlined to me the firm US understanding that there will be no rendition through the UK, UK airspace or Overseas Territories without express British Government permission".

Mr Miliband made clear that the Government expected the US to seek permission if it wanted to render terrorist suspects through UK territory and airspace.

He said that permission would only be granted if the Government was satisfied that it was in accord with British law and the UK's international obligations, including those under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

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GC
The Ginger Prince

Joined: Dec 01, 2003
Posts: 21536

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 - 07:08 AM

There's been mounting evidence that airports in mainland Britain, including Prestwick in Scotland, have been used for rendition flights within the last five years.

I don't know whether i am annoyed at the fact they feel the need to deny it or because the British Government continually bows down to the Bush administration.

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