US Airforce or CIA Plane at Shannon in Irish Colours

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Sunday May 14, 2006 20:44

by Edward Horgan - PANA

Refueling War At Shannon, on a quiet Sunday evening

This aircraft was seen by Edward Horgan at Shannon airport on Sunday afternoon at 2.30 pm.
It took off about two hours later.
Connor Cregan got some photos of the take off which will be published later.
It has been seen regularly at Frankfurt in Germany. It is not yet clear whether it is controlled by the US Airforce or by the CIA. It is unusual for US Airforce to operate such unmaked planes. The Irish green white and gold colour scheme is a new innovation. It makes a change from World Airways flying in Aer Lingus colours.

This report by Wayne Madsen shows it is not on its first visit to Shannon. Detailed flight logs of this plane will make interesting reading when we get them soon.
Its previous stopping points include, Guantanamo, Baghdad, Kabul, Shannon and many of the usual suspect airports.

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

May 1, 2006 -- CIA Boeing 737 still flying secret prisoners around Asia and Europe. A Boeing 737, tail number N368CE, registered to a shadowy company called Premier Aircraft Management and incorporated in North Las Vegas, Nevada, has been sighted in Frankfurt, Germany, Luxembourg, Baghdad, and Kabul in recent months. The Boeing is ostensibly owned by Wells Fargo Bank and was based in Wilmington, Delaware until 2004. The plane was previously registered to a Malaysian firm called Country Heights, based in Seri Kembangan, Malaysia and operated under registration number 9M-LKY. The Boeing has had an interesting history. Once known for flying around VIPs such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kofi Annan, the plane has been used by the CIA to fly around renditioned prisoners and their CIA captors.

In 2005, the home base of the plane was shifted from Wilmington to Frankfurt, Germany. Recently, the ownership of the Boeing was shifted from Premier Aircraft Management to a sister company called Vision Airlines. The owner of both companies is William Acor, whose airline business has largely encompassed sightseeing flights over the Grand Canyon. The registered secretary and treasurer of Premier is Chong How Kiat while Acor is treasurer for Vision. Vision's secretary is listed as Steven Acor. According to FEC records, Acor donated to the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2004.

Premier Aircraft Management appears to be an umbrella company consisting of firms and branches in Nevada, Canada, Luxembourg, and Malaysia. Another Boeing 737, tail number N34315 and registered to Wilmington Trust, in Wilmington, Delaware, has been spotted at Luxembourg's Findel Airport along with N368CE. There are reports of a cooperative arrangement between these aircraft and Luxair, which is based at Findel.

CIA uses Boeing 737 owned by company connected to Malaysia. Malaysia was the site of the Jan. 2000 Al Qaeda summit that planned the 9-11 attacks. The CIA and Malaysia's Special Branch conducted surveillance of the meeting, which included future hijackers Khalid al Midhar and Nawaf al Hazmi, in a posh Kuala Lumpur suburb. The CIA sent the warning to the FBI, which ignored it.

According to European sources, N368CE had the following flight itinerary earlier this year:

Jan. 8, 06 -- Kabul to Frankfurt, Germany
Jan. 9, 06 -- Frankfurt to Baghdad
Jan. 06 -- Frankfurt to Baghdad and Baghdad to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Kabul and Kabul to Frankfurt
Feb. 1, 06 -- Frankfurt to Kabul
Feb. 2, 06 -- Kabul to Frankfurt

N368CE also had an interesting itinerary just prior to the U.S.-backed coup against Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in April 2002:

Mar.-Apr. 2002 -- Los Angeles to Toluca, Mexico; Caracas, Venezuela to New York City; New York to Managua, Nicaragua; Brownsville, Texas to Managua; Washington, DC to Shannon, Ireland; Gander, Newfoundland to Washington, DC; Washington to Houston; Houston to Washington.

Beginning in Feb. 2003, the Boeing made some other interesting stops: Miami to Managua; Miami to Wilmington, North Carolina; Wilmington, NC to Baltimore; Baltimore to Basseterre, St. Kitts; Atlanta to Gander, Newfoundland; Gander to Shannon, Ireland; Athens, Greece to Shannon; Shannon to Gander; Gander to Atlanta; Washington, DC to Santa Maria, Azores; San Juan, Puerto Rico to Washington, DC; Newark, NJ to Inverness, Scotland; Inverness to Gander; Gander to Newark, Newark to Wilmington, NC; Wilmington, NC to Houston; Houston to Gander; London to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Larnaca, Cyprus to Shannon; Wilmington, NC to Columbus, Ohio; Columbus to Pittsburgh, PA; Pittsburgh to Shannon, Larnaca, Cyprus to Shannon; Los Angeles to Brownsville, Texas; Brownsville to Port of Spain, Trinidad; Trinidad to Montego Bay, Jamaica; Montego Bay to Washington, DC; Wilmington, NC to Providence, Rhode Island; Providence to Mosstown, Great Exuma, Bahamas; Mosstown to Basseterre, St. Kitts; Basseterre to New York City; New York to Wilmington, NC. Some of these routes are known to be used by couriers transporting large amounts of cash from of-shore bank haven to haven (Larnaca, St. Kitts, Bahamas, e.g.). In April 2004, the Boeing flew from Wilmington, NC to Washington, DC to Guantanamo, Cuba and returned to Wilmington via Washington.