Ahern to seek US assurance on Shannon flights

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern will this week seek fresh assurances from the US government that Shannon airport is…

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern will this week seek fresh assurances from the US government that Shannon airport is not being used for "rendition" flights that take prisoners to third countries for interrogation. Mr Ahern will raise the issue with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when they meet in Washington on Thursday.

The US has told the Government a number of times this year that "rendition" flights do not pass through Shannon, but Mr Ahern will alert Dr Rice to public concern over the issue.

Human Rights Watch has identified at least one CIA flight that stopped at Shannon before flying to Afghanistan and Romania on an alleged "rendition" mission. The US has transferred prisoners to countries where torture is practised and the Washington Post reported this month that the CIA has run a network of secret prisons, including two in eastern Europe.

Mr Ahern will attend a lunch tomorrow to mark Ireland's 50 years in the United Nations and meet UN secretary general Kofi Annan. On Thursday, he will brief US special envoy for Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss on the talks he and Northern Secretary Peter Hain have held with the main political parties.

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On Capitol Hill, Mr Ahern will meet Senator Edward Kennedy to discuss the North, Iraq and the position of undocumented Irish immigrants in the US. The Government supports a Bill Mr Kennedy and Republican Senator John McCain have proposed to regularise the position of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the US. Also on the agenda will be bilateral matters. These could include Washington's mounting impatience with Ireland's failure to comply with extradition requests.