Probe into secret US stop-overs
2005-11-15 16:13
Madrid - Spain is to investigate claims that United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) planes carrying Islamic extremist suspects made secret stop-overs on Spanish soil.
Announcing the move on Tuesday, Spanish interior minister, Jose Antonio Alonso, said the purported stop-overs could damage relations between Madrid and Washington.
He said that using Spanish airports for secret flights to transport terrorist suspects was "a serious and intolerable issue", one which could affect "the level of relations between the two governments".
The US embassy in Spain refused to comment on what it termed "such a sensitive issue".
According to a police report, CIA planes carrying suspected extremists have made at least 10 secret stop-overs in the Balearic Islands, off Spain's Mediterranean coast.
The main branch of the Spanish secret service, the National Intelligence Centre, has asked the CIA not to use Spanish airports for ferrying prisoners.
- SAPA