Evidence of 'Extraordinary CIA Renditions' Through Spain

According to this investigative report from Spain's El Pais newspaper, flight records indicate that an airport in Spain served as a transit point for the CIA, which is thought to have been ferrying terror prisoners to and from countries that permit torture.

By Andreu Manresa

Translation Provided By Nur-al-Cubicle [Nur-al-Cubicle Blog]

November 15, 2005

Original Article (Spanish)    

Palma de Mallorca, Spain: Last June, the Guardia Civil submitted a report to the Chief Prosecutor of the Superior Court of the Balearics on an investigation into ten flights, allegedly operated by the CIA, which made stopovers at the Palma de Majorca Airport. The planes involved were identified during the course of the investigation.

[Editor's Note: The Guardia Civil is Spanish police force with both military and civilian functions].

One of the planes matched an aircraft that was used by the United States to transfer prisoners suspected of terrorism from Libya to Gu…ntanamo (Cuba), while another matched an aircraft that was flown to Baghdad (Iraq) on the day Saddam Hussein was captured.

The Guardia Civil also detailed the identity of the occupants aboard the aircraft, most of whom had "diplomatic status." A group of Spanish citizens led by Majorcan lawyer Ignasi Ribas filed a complaint months ago charging that the crimes of illegal imprisonment, kidnapping and torture were committed aboard the planes that made stopovers at Son Sant Joan (Palma de Majorca) Airport. The complaint stated that the CIA was using the airport as a base of operations for "flying prisons," carrying individuals suspected of Islamic terrorism who had been kidnapped and were being rendered to countries where torture is routinely practiced during interrogation.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Balearics ordered the Guardia Civil to investigate the ten flights cited in a story by the newspaper Diario de Majorca and made known to the public. The complaint, filed on March 14, 2005, was then referred to Guardia Civil command for the Balearics, which in turn opened an investigation. The investigation revealed that on at least ten occasions, between January 22 and December 17, 2005, four aircraft, two Boeing 747Ìs bearing registration numbers N313P and N4476S and two Gulfstream aircraft, with the tail numbers N8068 and N85VM, made stopovers at Palma de Majorca airport.

The CIA operations, continues the report by the Guardia Civil, were recorded by General Aviation as private aircraft.

The first flight that was examined corresponds to a Boeing 747, which arrived from Algiers on January 22, 2004. A day later, it took off from Palma de Majorca heading for Macedonia. There, the aircraft picked up a German national, Khaled el-Masri and took him to a Kabul prison without judicial process. The Munich Public Prosecutor's office is investigating the incident.

The Guardia Civil also analyzed the ownership of the aircraft, and discovered that one of the U.S.-registered Boeing 747's was the property of Keeler and Tate Management. A service request for the aircraft was made by Jeppesen Dataplan, headquartered in California, whose business is the management of aircraft services, airport fees and overflight requests.

The Guardia Civil also discovered that the owner-operator of three of the four aircraft was Stevens Express Leasing, one of the companies which, according to a New York Times story [printed on May 31, 2005], is linked to aircraft used by the CIA for the kidnapping and rendition of suspected Islamic terrorists.

Another item of information collected by the Guardia Civil has to do with the company which made a request to the aircraft services company, Assistair, to clean the aircraft with tail number N85VM. The requestor was Air Routing International, headquartered in Houston. This aircraft was operated by Richmond Aviation.

The Guardia CivilÌs investigation was able to identify the occupants of the various aircraft and noted that they were guests of the hotels Gran Meli… Victoria and Marriot Son Antem Llucmajor. Up to 50 U.S. nationals arrived aboard the investigated aircraft and stayed at those hotels. Most of them were in possession of a passport with a number beginning with 900. Guardia Civil investigators deduced that these people were in possession of diplomatic passports.

The Guardia Civil report concluded that no illegal activity was carried out by persons arriving on the alleged CIA aircraft during the stopover in Palma de Majorca and that, as with most private aircraft, the activities of the occupants is unknown. The Guardia Civil writes in its report that when aircraft service workers based at Son Sant Joan Airport went aboard the aircraft, they noticed no structural changes or anything unusual inside the planes.

The Balearic Chief Public Prosecutor has set aside the unsolved case because, although the investigation by the Guardia Civil confirmed the presence of the planes, it could not substantiate links to the CIA or supply details on the missions carried out. In October, Judge Antonio GarcÃa Sansaloni decided to refer the case to the Audiencia Nacional after determining that the case was beyond his jurisdiction.

At the present time, investigations have been opened in Italy and Germany into suspected involvement of CIA agents in illegal kidnappings of various nationals. The list of CIA agents involved in these kidnapping does not correspond to the occupants aboard the flights stopping over in Palma de Majorca.