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| Britain | |
| UK FM criticises US over Israel flights | |
| 2006-07-27 | |
| Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has publicly criticised the United States over reports that a Scottish airport was used as a stop-off for flights carrying arms to Israel. Mrs Beckett accused the US of not following the right procedures over arms flights and threatened a formal protest after raising the matter with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. With Tony Blair due to visit to Washington for talks with President Bush on Israel and Lebanon, Downing Street is keen to play down any possible rift with the US. Mrs Beckett said she was not happy about reports Prestwick airport had been used for refuelling and crew rest for two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes filled with GBU28 laser-guided bombs, adding she had "already let the United States know that this is an issue that appears to be seriously at fault". Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell seized on the news as evidence Britain was being "taken for granted". Mrs Beckett's comments came as she resisted calls for the British government to back an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon after a crisis summit failed to agree action. al-Guardian: Aviation chiefs are expected to decide later on Thursday whether the US broke international rules when using a British airport as a staging post for transporting weapons to Israel. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said it was responsible for policing international regulations governing transport of hazardous material in Britain. "We're looking into the issue at the moment," he said. "We expect to make a decision later today." Flights such as that by the two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes - which were carrying GBU28 laser-guided bombs - usually require "specific exemptions" from hazardous material rules, according to the spokesman. Times Online: The United States has denied it contravened British air transport procedures by allowing two cargo aircraft loaded with bunker-busting bombs bound for Israel to stop over in Scotland. The US Defence Department said Washington had double-checked its records of all flights since the reports emerged and found it has not broken any regulations in Britain or anywhere else. British defence sources have alleged that the Airbus jets stopped to refuel at GlasgowÂ’s Prestwick airport last weekend during a flight to transport GBU28 laser-guided bombs to Israel. A US Defence Department spokesman, Joe Carpenter, said: "ItÂ’s our policy that US military flights and those contracted on our behalf comply with existing bilateral agreements. "There have been no recent deviations from those procedures." BBC: The White House has dismissed UK concerns about the use of Prestwick Airport, in Scotland, by US planes carrying bombs to Israel. "Apparently, the British foreign minister thinks the paperwork was not in order," said spokesman Tony Snow. "The Department of Defense does," he added. "We'll get it straightened out." Opposition parties reacted angrily, with Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond claiming the UK government should decide whether to "be an aircraft carrier" for the US. Mr Salmond said that "with an escalating Middle East conflict", it was ill-advised to send bombs "to arm one side in that conflict to the teeth". The UK's Civil Aviation Authority said it followed a series of procedures set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation "to facilitate the international movement of civil aircraft". These "apply to everyone who may be involved in putting or taking dangerous goods on an aircraft", its website stated. Countries must "hold permission to carry dangerous goods" and submit to "audit-style inspections" to "check for compliance". If insufficient information was supplied then all available evidence would be gathered to try to inform the originating state "so that action can be taken there", it said. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority was unable to confirm whether it had been informed of the contents of the flight to which Mrs Beckett referred. Prestwick has supplied logistical aid for military flights since the Second World War in "moving troops and cargo", an airport spokesperson said. "That support involves allowing crew to rest, refuelling aircraft and providing food and water. "The airport is obliged to allow aircraft from any CAA-registered country to land here."
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| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #6 Sir minging cambell glencoe---LOL! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-07-27 22:51 |
| #5 "taken for granted". Ya filthy foreighners flying your deadly, lazerguided, garlicovered, snidey, nasty, pokey,*effective* evil bombs. There are fluffy ducks, fuffy ducks in "the lebernorn" ya could be savin did ya think of that! Naw naw , ya heathen sasanach's never daey, yer all a bunch av war monggering savages, wheres ma claymore I'll sort these c*nts reet out. |
| Posted by: Sir minging cambell glencoe 2006-07-27 21:07 |
| #4 SPOD: Margaret Beckett is just an uninformed twerp. That or a typical leftist anti-semite. Labor needs that Muslim vote. If they had their druthers, they'd lock in their electoral advantage by making Britain majority Muslim via open immigration to Muslim countries. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-07-27 20:42 |
| #3 Gosh darn Ima mad too! refuelling and crew rest for two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes WTF! Build more and more and more C-17s. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-07-27 17:13 |
| #2 Got yer codpiece in a wad Margaret my dear? It was actually a bit south of you at RAF Brize Norton. Big phueching planes you know, chocked full of missiles and such. The bog is to shallow in the highlands... maybe next time dear. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-07-27 15:31 |
| #1 I can't remember where I read it but this airport is designated as able to handle aircraft with "hazardous goods." This airport is used by the RAF the CAF and the US to transport "hazardous goods" everyday. Margaret Beckett is just an uninformed twerp. That or a typical leftist anti-semite. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-07-27 15:12 |