Greens demand Govt authorise searches of US warplanes
05/12/2005 - 14:15:35Green Party chairman John Gormley has demanded that the Government authorise searches of US military aircraft using Shannon Airport.
The call comes amid growing concerns about a CIA programme whereby suspected Islamic militants are transferred to secret prisons across the world for interrogation.
Critics claim the victims are being kidnapped by the CIA and then tortured at the behest of the US intelligence agency.
Irish anti- war activists say a plane involved in the programme has landed at Shannon Airport in Co Clare on numerous occasions.
The Irish Government insists that it has received assurances from the US that nobody was being held on the aircraft.
However, Mr Gormley said today that US officials could not and should not be taken at their word.
