Thursday, January 19, 2006
Blair And McConnell Under Pressure Over CIA Flights.
Prime Minister Tony Blair is under pressure to make a Commons statement on the use of UK airspace to transport prisoners who may be tortured, following the leak of a Foreign Office memo.
The secret memo reveals the truth: the government knows rendition is illegal but it has no idea what it has been letting the CIA get away with on our soil. By Martin Bright in the New Statesman
New Statesman political editor Martin Bright told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What the advice is saying is, 'Look, this is almost certainly illegal. We do not really know whether it has been going on on our territory, but let's try and spin ourselves out of this situation and try and move the debate on'."
And yesterday the Scottish National Party released a dossier of suspected CIA rendition flights through Scottish airports, listing in detail planes, dates and ten firms allegedly operated on behalf of the CIA.
Following the release of the SNP report, The Scottish Executive has been asked to co-operate fully with a new European committee's investigation into US flights carrying terror suspects.
The executive says it has no knowledge of Scottish airports being used.
SNP foreign affairs spokesman Angus Robertson has sent a copy of the dossier to First Minister Jack McConnell as well as committees of the Council of Europe, European Parliament and Westminster, which are investigating the claims of rendition flights.
The Moray MP accused First Minister McConnell of turning a blind eye to the issue.
The secret memo reveals the truth: the government knows rendition is illegal but it has no idea what it has been letting the CIA get away with on our soil. By Martin Bright in the New Statesman
New Statesman political editor Martin Bright told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What the advice is saying is, 'Look, this is almost certainly illegal. We do not really know whether it has been going on on our territory, but let's try and spin ourselves out of this situation and try and move the debate on'."
And yesterday the Scottish National Party released a dossier of suspected CIA rendition flights through Scottish airports, listing in detail planes, dates and ten firms allegedly operated on behalf of the CIA.
Following the release of the SNP report, The Scottish Executive has been asked to co-operate fully with a new European committee's investigation into US flights carrying terror suspects.
The executive says it has no knowledge of Scottish airports being used.
SNP foreign affairs spokesman Angus Robertson has sent a copy of the dossier to First Minister Jack McConnell as well as committees of the Council of Europe, European Parliament and Westminster, which are investigating the claims of rendition flights.
The Moray MP accused First Minister McConnell of turning a blind eye to the issue.
© Colcam 2005-2007
