HUMAN rights group Shannon Watch has called on the government to introduced measures to prevent the US from using Shannon Airport for illegal rendition flights. The anti-war and peace activist group, based in the Mid West, has been in the spotlight of late, with their attempts to end the use of Shannon Airport by US military troops travelling to and from Afghanistan and Iraq.
The group has now uncovered a dispute in New York between two aviation companies contracted to carry out rendition flights, with court files showing that they flew between the US and international airports, including Shannon, also landing at secret CIA-run prisons.
Files show that Richmor Aviation and DynCorp, are in dispute over unpaid costs from such flights.
A Gulfstream jet is suspected of having carried al-Qaida member Abd al-Nashiri, the prime suspect for the bombing of a US navy ship in Yemen in 2000, when it refuelled at Shannon.
Court files reveal the flight, including stops in Dubai, Afghanistan, London and Washington, cost $198,000.
“It was the first of a run of secret long-distance flights by the Gulfstream between 2002 and 2005 that paralleled the suspected movements of captured al-Qaida and other terrorist leaders who vanished into CIA-run black prisons after their arrests following the September 11 attacks,” said a group spokesperson.
“Some of these service costs are no doubt included in the ‘profits’ that Shannon Airport has claimed to be making from US government business.
“The airport facilities were used repeatedly over the years by private companies engaged in illegal and immoral activities.
“Aviation companies like Richmor, fixed based operators, caterers and others, made money from kidnapping and torture”.
