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`Rendition'-linked flights landed in the UK on 73 occasions

Aircraft suspected of being used by the CIA for "extraordinary rendition" -- the practice of sending detainees to camps, including Guantanamo Bay -- passed through UK airports on 73 occasions since 2001, the British government disclosed on Friday.

They included an aircraft which took off from the Afghan istan and landed in Edinburgh on Nov. 25, 2002 before continuing its journey to Washington.

The aircraft, registered N85VM, landed at Guantanamo Bay on a number of occasions in 2002 and 2003, sometimes via the Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean, a British overseas territory, according to flight records seen by the Guardian newspaper.

New details of aircraft known to be used by the CIA were disclosed by the British Transport Secretary Alistair Darling in answer to a parliamentary question from Michael Moore, opposition Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman. Some of the aircraft landed in the UK on their way to the Middle East.

Darling said none of the information held by his officials "provides evidence that these flights were involved in rendition." He said that Britain had made clear to the US, "including in recent months", that the government expected it to seek permission before rendering detainees via British territory and airspace.

Moore said that the disclosures raised serious questions about the number and purpose of CIA flights through the UK.

He added: "A fundamental question remains unanswered: has the UK government actually asked the US how many individuals have been rendered through Britain? If this hasn't been asked, then why on earth not?"
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