Concern over US use of British airport to transport weapons

A CHORUS of discontent was growing last night over the US use of British airports as staging posts for transporting weapons to Israel.

Aviation chiefs are investigating whether two chartered flights carrying bunker-busting bombs were authorised to stopover at Glasgow Prestwick.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has insisted she is “not happy” and will lodge a formal complaint if the hazardous material protocol failure is proved — raising speculation of a rift in the transatlantic “special relationship”.

She has already contacted her US counterpart Condoleezza Rice to voice her displeasure, while the White House has sought to play the issue down as a “paperwork question”.

However, last night calls for a blanket ban on the US using British territory when transporting arms to Israel were increasing in volume, with critics criticising the government’s “monumental hypocrisy” in asking Hezbollah to give up their weapons.

The embarrassing controversy is threatening to overshadow Tony Blair’s arrival in Washington today for talks with US President George W Bush concerning the deteriorating situation in Lebanon.

A former British diplomat, who quit as ambassador to Uzbekistan after alleging human rights abuses, said Britain was losing “all credibility with the Arab world”.

Craig Murray said: “Whether procedures were followed properly is not the issue. We shouldn’t be allowing bombs through our airports to fan this horrendous conflict.

“This underlines the monumental hypocrisy of the US and Britain. We have been preaching to Iran about arming Hezbollah fighters.

“And all the while we have been arming the Israelis, while resisting calls for an immediate ceasefire.”