Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Spain to probe CIA flight claims
Aljazeera.Net - Spain to probe CIA flight claims: "Spain has said it will investigate claims that US Central Intelligence Agency planes carrying Muslim extremist suspects made secret stopovers on Spanish soil.
Announcing the move on Tuesday in Madrid, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said the matter could damage relations between Madrid and Washington.
He told Teleconco television that using Spanish airports for secret flights to transport terrorist suspects was 'a serious and intolerable issue' and one which could affect 'the level of relations between the two governments.'
The US embassy here refused to comment on what it termed 'such a sensitive issue'.
Earlier, Spanish daily El Pais quoted a police report as saying CIA planes carrying alleged extremists made at least 10 secret stopovers in the Balearic Islands off Spain's Mediterranean coast.
When informed of the report, the main branch of the Spanish secret service, the National Intelligence Centre, asked the CIA not to use Spanish airports for ferrying prisoners, El Pais said, quoting unidentified government sources."
Announcing the move on Tuesday in Madrid, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said the matter could damage relations between Madrid and Washington.
He told Teleconco television that using Spanish airports for secret flights to transport terrorist suspects was 'a serious and intolerable issue' and one which could affect 'the level of relations between the two governments.'
The US embassy here refused to comment on what it termed 'such a sensitive issue'.
Earlier, Spanish daily El Pais quoted a police report as saying CIA planes carrying alleged extremists made at least 10 secret stopovers in the Balearic Islands off Spain's Mediterranean coast.
When informed of the report, the main branch of the Spanish secret service, the National Intelligence Centre, asked the CIA not to use Spanish airports for ferrying prisoners, El Pais said, quoting unidentified government sources."
