Ahern ‘convinced’ Shannon used for rendition

JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern seemed “quite convinced” at least three US flights involved in so-called extraordinary renditions landed on Irish soil, a confidential diplomatic memo released by Wikileaks has revealed.

Publicly, Mr Ahern has always said he accepted US assurances that the CIA had not used Shannon for rendition operations, which involves the abduction and transfer of a person from one nation to another.

However the memo, from 2007, puts a different slant on things.

During a meeting with US Ambassador Thomas C Foley, Ahern said he had “put his neck on the chopping block” and would pay a severe political price if it ever turned out rendition flights had entered Ireland.

He said he could “use a little more information” about the flights and suggested it might be a good idea to randomly inspect planes. This, he believed, would provide cover if a rendition flight ever surfaced.

The memo, released yesterday, says that while Ahern’s public stance on extraordinary renditions is rock-solid, his musings during the meeting seemed less assured.

“This was the only issue during the meeting that agitated him. He spent considerable time dwelling on it. Ahern seemed to be fishing for renewed assurances from the Ambassador that no rendition flights have stopped in Ireland, or would do so in the future.”

Amnesty International Ireland yesterday renewed its call for an inquiry into the use of Irish airspace by the CIA for renditions flights.

Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, said: “So-called rendition operations are nothing more than kidnapping and torture. The Irish Government clearly knew that Shannon was being used as a launching pad for CIA operations but was unwilling to do anything about it.

“The use of Shannon to facilitate extraordinary renditions must be fully investigated and the legislation around aircraft using Irish airspace has to be toughened up.”

Ambassador Foley met with Mr Ahern to discuss a wide range of issues. In an aside on Sudan, Mr Ahern expressed despondency about progress in Darfur, saying he didn’t believe the leaders of Sudan, including President al-Bashir, were serious about resolving the Darfur situation. He labelled al-Bashir and Sudanese Foreign Minister Ismail as untrustworthy.