The German government has a list of at least 437 flights operated by the CIA in German airspace, the news magazine Der Spiegel claimed in its edition to be published today.
The number includes both movements by planes of the CIA spy agency in German airspace and landings at German airports, it says.
"Such planes could be used to transfer presumed terrorists and place them in secret locations," Der Spiegel writes.
The report comes on the eve of a visit to Germany by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The list was handed over by the national air navigation security agency at the request of the Left Party.
A German government spokesman confirmed the government had received the list, but said it allowed only to know "how many times which planes of which companies flew in German airspace or landed at German airports."
The national air navigation security agency did not provide any information "on who had used the planes or their destination," said the spokesman.
Der Spiegel says that in 2002 and 2003 two CIA aircraft alone accounted for 137 and 146 uses of German airspace or landings, chiefly at Frankfurt in the west, Berlin or the US base at Ramstein in western Germany.
Germany has the largest number of US bases in Europe.
In an interview published on Saturday in the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper, the secretary general of the German branch of the human rights organization Amnesty International claimed the German government knew of the CIA flights.
That assertion was contested by Wolfgang Bosach, a leader of the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, saying if the government knew of them it would be a "serious violation" of European Convention on Human Rights.
The US has been accused since the beginning of last month of having operated CIA flights since Sept. 11, 2001 using European airspace or airports carrying terrorism suspects to countries practising torture.
A British newspaper claimed on Thursday, on the basis of US civil aviation figures, that 96 flights had been recorded in Germany, 80 in Britain, 15 in the Czech Republic, two in France and one in Poland.
Today, Rice will be in Berlin to start a European tour, during which she is likely to be questioned both about the flights and the alleged existence of US detention centers for suspected terrorists in eastern Europe.
She has said she will give answers before embarking on her tour.
also see story:
CIA `torture camps' highlight divide
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS