UK has no record of CIA rendition flights, says Foreign Secretary

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UK has no record of CIA rendition flights, says Foreign Secretary

December 12, 2005 07:08:00 am

[JURIST] UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw [official website] said Monday in a BBC radio interview [recorded audio] that the UK has found no evidence that the US transported terror detainees [JURIST report] via UK airports, despite a UK newspaper report [JURIST report; Guardian report] last week alleging that CIA-owned or operated planes made 210 "ghost flights" to transport terror suspects through nearly 20 different UK facilities. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] has been accused of running secret prisons [JURIST report] in Eastern Europe and covertly transporting detainees in a practice referred to as extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive]. Straw said there are no governmental records that show any requests for rendition through UK territories since 9/11, highlighting that it is general procedure for the US to request permission for rendition flights. Straw noted, however, that military flights from other countries are not subject to checking by local authorities. Reuters has more.

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