A CIA rendition - and a Boeing firm called Jeppesen .... in documents

Khaled el Masri, the German citizen (pictured below), rendered from Skopje, Macedonia, to a CIA jail in Afghanistan, described how he was handcuffed and blindfolded and placed in a jet to Kabul, Afghanistan, on January 24, 2004. The plane reached Kabul after making one stop, he said.

Confirmation of el Masri's account came from the flight logs of the CIA jet, registered in 2004 under the tail number N313P and later N4476S, a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ).

The plane was operated by Aero Contractors Ltd from North Carolina, although generally travelled under the identity of "Stevens Express", a company registered in Tennessee.

As described in Ghost Plane (chapter 4), evidence for the involvement of the N313P and the identity of its pilots, crew and the rendition team emerged from an inquiry by Spanish police on the island of Mallorca, from where the plane began its journey to pick up el Masri in Macedonia, and where the plane returned for two nights after the rendition.

The same plane had arrived in Mallorca after also rendering the Londoner, Binyam Mohamed, from Morroco to Afghanistan.

The Spanish report suggested the plane was handled in Majorca by a local company, Mallorcair, which arranged immigration procedures, refuelling, local permissions, and organised hotel accomodation, as well as restocking the plane with food and wine. The New Yorker - in a piece by Jane Mayer called 'The CIA's Travel Agent' - has reported the Jeppersen Data Plan connection and noted it was a subsidary of Boeing. Mayer reported:

"A former Jeppesen employee, who asked not to be identified, said recently that he had been startled to learn, during an internal corporate meeting, about the company’s involvement with the rendition flights. At the meeting, he recalled, Bob Overby, the managing director of Jeppesen International Trip Planning, said, “We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights—you know, the torture flights. Let’s face it, some of these flights end up that way.” The former employee said that another executive told him, “We do the spook flights.” He was told that two of the company’s trip planners were specially designated to handle renditions. He was deeply troubled by the rendition program, he said, and eventually quit his job. He recalled Overby saying, “It certainly pays well. They”—the C.I.A.—“spare no expense. They have absolutely no worry about costs. What they have to get done, they get done.”

Overby, who was travelling last week, did not return several phone calls. Mike Pound, the head of corporate communications for Jeppesen, said that he would have no comment, and he added, “Bob Overby will have no comment as well.” Tim Neale, the director of media relations for Boeing’s corporate office in Chicago, said, “The flight-planning services we provide our customers are confidential, and we do not comment publicly on any work done for any customer without their consent.” The C.I.A. had no comment."

The visit of the N313P for el Masri's rendition was just one many visits to Mallorca by the BBJ as well as the plane's sister jet, a Gulfstream V (registered as N379P and then N8068V) that was used in a great many renditions, as detailed in the book.

Here are the flight logs of the N313P during its visits to Majorca in January 2004:

17-January-2004 SHANNON to LARNACA
21-January-2004 LARNACA to RABAT/SALE
21-January-2004 RABAT-SALE to KABUL Rendition of Binyam Mohamed
22-January-2004 KABUL to ALGIERS
22-January-2004 ALGIERS to PALMA DE MALLORCA First night in Mallorca (Marriott hotel)
23-January-2004 PALMA DE MALLORCA to SKOPJE
24-January-2004 SKOPJE to BAGHDAD Rendition of Khaled el Masri
24-January-2004 BAGHDAD to KABUL Rendition of Khaled el Masri
25-January-2004 KABUL to TIMISOARA (Romania)
26-January-2004 BUCUREST (Romania) to PALMA DE MALLORCA 2nd / 3rd night in Mallorca (Gran Melia Hotel)
28-January-2004 PALMA DE MALLORCA DULLES WASHINGTON

In almost all visits by the alleged CIA planes, according to the Spanish report, instructions were received by Mallorcair from Jeppesen Data Plan. Although the documents here are sometimes difficult to read, instructions can be seen in the form of a telex to Mallorcair from named individuals at Jeppesen for handling of the jet.

Below are instructions received for the BBJ's return to Palma after the el Masri rendition. The plane is identified as a "private non-commercial flight" and the captain identified as "Capt James R Fairing", believed to be a cover name.

In a statement to Spanish police, the boss of Mallorcair confirms he received instructions from Jeppesen:

An un-certified translation of the above is:

"Miguel Moduy Rodriguez, proprietor and delegate of the business, Mallorcair S.L. Ser Aviation.

The gentleman, Mudoy, recorded six occasions that his business rendered services to the previously cited airplanes.

All of the services rendered were made before the solicitation of JEPPESEN DATAPLAN, 225 West Santa Clara ST Suite 1600, San Jose, California, U.S.A., (a business dedicated to the handling, airport rights, and flight welfare, etc)

In the presented documentation by Mudoy, it shows that all airplanes were operated by the company Stevens Express Leasing (U.S.A.)."

Click to download:

- the full telex from Jeppesen on return trip of BBJ to Mallorcair after el Masri rendition

- telex on visit of N313P on 9 March 2004

- telex on visit of N4476S on 17 January 2005

- telex on visit of N8068V on 15 September 2004

- telex on visit of N8068V on 6 September 2004