U.S Marine in shackles discoverd in Shannon Airport....

national | anti-war / imperialism | other press Friday June 16, 2006 14:36 by karen fallon

In todays uk Guardian newspaper............

This story is in Todays U.K Guardian newspaper. in the international section.

Ireland moots searches of US military planes

Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Friday June 16, 2006
The Guardian

Random inspections may be carried out on US aircraft, the Irish government has warned, after a manacled marine was discovered by cleaners on board a military charter flight at Shannon airport.

The transfer of the prisoner - deemed illegal because permission had not been sought in advance from Ireland's justice department - has aggravated the political row over CIA renditions of terrorist suspects through European airspace.

The US ambassador, James Kenny, was summoned to the foreign affairs department to explain the failure to comply with international regulations. He has been asked to produce a report on the incident.

A report by the Council of Europe earlier this month named Ireland as one of 20 countries that had colluded in a "global spider's web" of CIA jails and clandestine transfers of terrorist suspects. The government has accepted Washington's insistence that there have been no US rendition flights through Irish airports.

Opposition parties and human rights groups are pressing for police checks on US military and charter flights stopping at Shannon airport, near Limerick, which is used as a refuelling point for flights between the US and the Middle East.

"We will look at all options including, if necessary, random inspections," said Dermot Ahern, the republic's foreign affairs minister. "Given the fact that an incident like this has happened we would put the [police] on notice that perhaps they should start inspecting on a case-by-case basis."

The US ambassador insisted that there had been no intention to break the law. "We regret this incident and are reviewing procedures to ensure that this does not happen again," he said.