This article is from page 3 of the 2006-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
A SUSPECTED CIA jet believed to be involved in the secret rendition of prisoners and which is listed by Statewatch, the organisation which monitors state and civil liberties in the European Union, landed at Shannon Airport on Saturday.
The Boeing 737-33A is listed by Statewatch as part of the CIA fleet, and has been the subject of questions in the British parliament in recent months. The airplane slipped unhindered into Shannon on Saturday and according to local activists, “left an hour earlier without any queries from the local authorities.”
The aircraft, which is also known to have visited Guntanamo, Cuba in the past, had no visible identifying markings apart from a tail number and a coloured stripe. It landed at Shannon on Saturday afternoon at around 1pm and spent a little over an hour on the ground, before departing shortly after 2pm. There was tight security around the plane for the short time it was in Shannon.
The jet, registration number N368CE, is according to official records registered to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest in Saltlake City and has been sighted in Shannon, Baghdad, Kabul and Frankfurt in recent years.
Anti-war groups believe, however, that this is a cover for what the aircraft is actually used for, the covert transportation of prisoners between Asia and Europe. Official records confirm that the plane commutes regularly between US military bases in Europe and the Middle East.
It is also known that in April 2004, the plane flew from Wilmington in North Carolina to Washington DC and then to Guantanamo in Cuba before returning to Wilmington again via Washington.
The aircraft is also documented on a Luxembourg parliamentary assembly list of 41 “suspect aircraft”. The Luxembourg government has already directed the airport authorities to immediately inform the competent Minister in case a flight plan indicates a planned landing by one of the aircraft mentioned on that list. Unlike Ireland, the authorities in Luxembourg have been instructed to inspect these suspect planes.
Limerick-based peace activist Tim Hourigan said, “This plane is using military bases in Europe and Asia and so it is clear it is being used for military purposes.
“While other countries are banning these suspect planes or at least seeking advance notification of their intention to use certain airports, the Irish Government continues to turn a blind eye and refuses to verify what these planes are being used for and whether they are carrying tortured prisoners through Shannon.”