The BBC reports that litigation between a charter company and an aviation company involving a fee dispute has led to new details of rendition flights. US court case reveals CIA rendition details summarizes the new details and previous disclosures from other sources, including leaked documents and reports from human rights organizations.
Some of the details noted by the BBC:
- Airport invoices and other commercial records provide a paper trail for the movements of some terrorism suspects allegedly held in secret CIA prisons, along with government operatives who flew to the scenes of their detention.
- The records include flight itineraries coordinated with the arrest of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the suspected transport of other detainees.
- The private jets were given US state department transit letters providing diplomatic cover for their flights.
- The private business jets sometimes landed several times during a single mission, and in at least one case cost the US government as much as $300,000 for one flight.
- The crew of one of the jets involved made expenses claims for items such as $20 sandwiches and $40 wine bottles, court documents published by the Guardian show.
There’s more in this excellent piece; we haven’t yet seen any coverage in other English-language outlets, but hope to. Any readers having seen other relevant reports are encouraged to share them in comments.