Planes for mercenaries fly through Malta
Planes for mercenaries fly through Malta, reveals S. African newspaper
By Malta Media News Aug 27, 2004, 08:43 Sierra Leone police are investigating four airlines registered in the west African state since 2002 that have never flown there, amid concerns they are fronts for terror groups such as al-Qaeda. Flight records examined by police show that the airlines favoured Middle Eastern destinations, such as Jordan and Lebanon. Flight enthusiasts monitoring the sales of airplanes have posted photos on various websites of Air Leone planes in destinations such as Malta. www.sundaytimes.co.za reported that a British national known as Paddy McKay registered Star Air, Air Universal, Heavy-Lift Cargo and Air Leone in 2002, shortly after the decade of civil war ended in Sierra Leone, Fodie Daboh, chief superintendent of the crime investigations department of the national police, told AFP by telephone from Freetown. "After the war we were looking around everywhere for investors, hoping to start airlines coming here and help to rebuild the country," said Daboh. "When he came, nobody refused." Ranked at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index, post-conflict Sierra Leone embodies the type of failed state that is most attractive to groups such as al-Qaeda, where despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeepers it is relatively easy to engage in clandestine activities. "We are worried that these airlines are fronts for al-Qaeda - that is the bottom line," said Daboh, adding that police would call on Interpol in coming days to assist the investigation. "They are involved in al-Qaeda business or al-Qaeda issues and are flying our flag - what if they are used in terrorist activities?" said Daboh. "We will be blamed and then blacklisted." McKay paid 5,000 dollars (4,100 euros) for each of the airline registration certificates, telling civil aviation officials he was keen to start flights between Freetown and other destinations, the African Sunday Times reported. "They posed as genuine business people when they came to Sierra Leone to register their airlines and were issued with certificates," said John Bongor, the acting director of civil aviation, who with four of his colleagues has been detained as part of the investigation since the weekend. "But they never once flew in or out of Sierra Leone," said Daboh. None of the airlines have offices or staff in Freetown, and the contact addresses given by McKay were fake, said Daboh. Police have thus far been unsuccessful in tracking McKay down, although an agent working in Freetown on his behalf has co-operated with the investigation. British Transport Minister Tony McNulty in January had banned Star Air and Air Universal from flying in or out of Britain, but gave no reason for including the companies on an international blacklist. "Up to July this year they did not show up so I then issued a notice to them, suspending their licenses," added Bongor. "I have now cancelled their operation certificates but in spite of this, I have information that they are still flying." A watchdog group known as the Association for a Clean Ostend, which monitors the use of the Netherlands' Ostend Airport for arms and drugs smuggling, has reported that Air Leone was once known as Ibis Air transport, an airline operated by Executive Outcomes and its sister company Sandline International. Mercenaries from the South Africa-based Executive Outcomes, who fought on the side of the beleaguered national army, were considered crucial to ending Sierra Leone's civil war. The airlines are not the only potential link between Sierra Leone and the terror network of Osama bin Laden. According to a recently leaked document from the UN-backed war crimes court in the west African state, known high-level al-Qaeda operatives dealt in Sierra Leonean diamonds, using next door Liberia as a conduit. The evidence provided by the court, however, was reviewed and rejected by the US commission investigating the September 11 attacks on the United States as not "substantiated". (Source: www.sundaytimes.co.za) |
Star Air
That may explain why all of a sudden they aren't carrying freight for DHL out of BAH
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 17:27. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.