XPost: uk.current-events.general, uk.politics, uk.media 
 XPost: U$ChargingStrandedU$Citizens 
  
 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- 
 Hash: SHA1 
  
 Poodle Blair to allow US arms flights to Israel from 
  
 sent by Dave Muller (southnews) 
  
 AFP - Jul 28, 2006 
  
 Britain to allow stopovers of US weapons flights to Israel 
  
 US requests to send two more planes carrying bombs and missiles to 
 Israel via Britain in the next fortnight are likely to be approved, 
 newspapers reported. 
  
 The reports follow criticism by British Foreign Secretary Margaret 
 Beckett of alleged stopovers in Scotland of US planes carrying munitions 
 for Israel. 
  
 The Daily Telegraph had said two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes 
 laden with GBU-28 bombs landed at Glasgow Prestwick Airport over the 
 weekend for refuelling and crew rest on the way to Israel. 
  
 Two more planes will land at Prestwick in the next couple weeks, 
 according to The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, citing unnamed 
 government sources, and The Times, quoting unnamed Downing Street sources. 
  
 The Daily Mail called it an "embarrassing U-turn". 
  
 Beckett, who claimed she was "not happy", said she had raised the 
 initial report with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and would 
 issue a formal complaint to Washington if it was found to be true. 
  
 The planes that landed at Prestwick had been designated "civilian 
 flights" and US officials had failed to notify British authorities of 
 their hazardous contents, The Times said. 
  
 It said that the diplomatic row was more about procedure than principle, 
 and quoted an unnamed senior government official saying flights through 
 Prestwick "will be allowed to continue". 
  
 "It is a right we have always granted." 
  
 The White House, too, has dismissed British concerns about the 
 allegations, with spokesman Tony Snow on Thursday calling it "a 
 paperwork question". 
  
 The report came as British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepared to fly to 
 the United States on Friday for a five-day trip. 
  
 He is not expected to raise the issue with US President George W. Bush, 
 The Times reported. 
  
 Prestwick has in recent months also been the subject of claims that the 
 US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used it for so-called 
 "extraordinary rendition" flights to transport security suspects to 
 third countries where torture may be used. 
  
  
  
 - ------------------------------ 
  
 Message: 6 
 Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2006 11:01:55 -0400 (EDT) 
 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- 
 Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.2 (FreeBSD) 
  
 iD8DBQFEzSaxHwEfpL2U00kRAjFIAKChcVN0KeFYBkbhyPsWmRGIxSpQBwCfU/9B 
 almYgum2dDnQ4yJrjCscIj4= 
 =8rd8 
 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)