Paper: CIA flights made stopovers in France

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051202/ap_on_re_eu/france_secret_flights

PARIS - Two flights chartered by the CIA made stopovers in France in 2002 and 2005, the French newspaper Le Figaro said Friday, adding to likely questions facing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she visits Europe next week.

Le Figaro said the first flight identified took place on March 31, 2002. The Learjet private plane stopped in the northwestern town of Brest on its way from Iceland to Turkey, with a planned stop in Rome, the newspaper said.

The second flight stopped over near Paris on July 20, 2005, arriving from Norway, Le Figaro said, quoting as its source the Norwegian newspaper Ny Tid. This airplane, a Gulfstream III jet, had landed six times at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it added.

Le Figaro said it was possible for the flights to have gone undetected by French officials because private flights from outside the Europe's "Schengen" passport-free zone could transit freely through France, provided they gave their flight plan.