'Rendition' jets back in Shannon
Four CIA jets, two of which were identified last year in a special EU report into 'extraordinary rendition' have landed at Shannon Airport in recent days, leading to renewed calls for the Government to ban aircraft suspected of participating in the practice.
Sometimes labelled 'torture by proxy', such operations allegedly involve the extrajudicial apprehension of suspected terrorists abroad, and their transport to countries where they are subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, or to covert CIA-run prisons called 'black sites'.
Suspects are often transported via a third state without the knowledge of the host government. At least four suspected aircraft landed at Shannon over the past week.
One of the jets, registration N457LC, made a refuelling stop last Wednesday. Another plane, (N478GS), made a similar stop on Saturday afternoon.
Both planes were identified in the EU's November 2006 report, and continue to stop at Shannon. Late last night (Sunday), two more aircraft, N71PG and N54PA, were due there.
