Jet used by FL Gov candidate Crist has unusual history (CIA renditions)

[seafan]

Jet used by Crist has unusual history

By JOE FOLLICK
August 20, 2006

The private jet used by Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist this weekend for a tour of the state has ties to the CIA and the war on terror.
Under its previous owner, the jet was leased to the CIA to carry a suspected terrorist to another country where he was tortured, according to the Amnesty International Web site.

The plane's current owner is Stuart Lasher, a Tampa businessman and friend of Crist's. He said he wasn't aware of the CIA's use of the plane when he bought it in 2004.
Lasher also said he has not leased the plane to the CIA or any other governmental agency since he purchased the plane, which seats about a dozen passengers and contains leather chairs and TV monitors.

Crist's campaign is paying Lasher for the use of the plane, which carried Crist supporters, including U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., to Pensacola, Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville.
The practice of transporting terror suspects out of the United States to countries more amenable to torture, known as "rendition," has earned the scorn of numerous human rights groups.

snip

[whistle]

1. Maybe part of its history includes drug running from Columbia

[annabanana]

2. It would give me the creeping yips

to ride in that plane...

bad juju

[Sherman A1]

3. Ya, just never know where it might have been......

[seafan]

4. This is the plane involved w/ the Canadian man taken to Jordan, AND

has, according to Amnesty Internat'l, flown to Guantanamo more than 100 times. This is creepy, indeed. Now we all are treated to feigned surprise by all of these * Republicans when this comes to light. Wonder how Mr. Crist will plead his ignorance... Shameful.

The Amnesty International Web site says the plane, identified by its tail number, was used to transfer a Canadian man from the United States to Jordan, where he was tortured.

The group includes a picture of the plane on its Web site, saying it has made more than 100 trips to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the site of the nation's controversial detention center.

[et in Arcadia ego]

5. hmm..

I've been looking around the AI website for about 20 minutes now and I can't find jack on this story..

Does anyone have a link to an AI page regarding this? I'd like to spread the article out there, but I hate reading things like this that can't be verified..

[seafan]

6. This information is from today's Sarasota, FL Herald-Tribune.

But, here are more sources of info on these planes.


USA: “The best kept secret in the aviation industry”?


Firms get scrutiny over CIA captures


Jet Is an Open Secret in Terror War


Planes alleged to have been used for extraordinary rendition


USA: Torture free skies

[nashville_brook]

11. you should see his TeeVee commercials...

creepy is very apt.

[karlrschneider]

7. I don't see any jets registered to anybody named Lasher.

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/nameSQL.asp?nametxt=lasher&cmndfind.x=16&cmndfind.y=12&sort_option=5

Not saying the story is wrong, but I tend to check these kinds of things...

edit: N379P was assigned to a single engine Piper out of Vero Beach 9 days ago.
Hmmm.
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=379P&cmndfind.x=16&cmndfind.y=14

[seafan]

9. Here is some info on the plane the Herald Tribune describes:

Interesting that there is no obvious registration to this Lasher person.


I found this info below on the plane that spirited the Canadian citizen of Syrian descent, Maher Arar, to Rome and then on to Jordan on or about 8-10-02. This man was held and reportedly tortured for more than a year, then released in 10-03.

This plane had a tail # of N829MG, which was later changed to N259SK.

__3. N829MG-N259SK
A Gulfstream III (Grumman G-1159A), this plane carried Canadian national Maher Arar from the US to Jordan, where he was transferred overland to Syria. He was tortured during 13 months of detention without charge, and was released in October 2003. The plane has also made over 100 trips to Guantánamo Bay. There are 380 relevant FAA recorded landings or takeoffs between March 2001 and May 2005.
Registration: registered by MJG Aviation in October 2000 in Florida; the company dissolved July 2004. MJG’s owner also owned Presidential Aviation, a company first registered in Florida in 1998 and dissolved November 2004. The aircraft was re-registered as 259SK in March 2004 by S&K Aviation LLC. S&K Aviation was first registered in Florida in December 2003 and is an active company with a registered agent.__Range and capacity: average range of 3,715 nautical miles. The aircraft can transport up to 22 passengers, but it is usually configured for 10/12 people. ___Destinations: Recorded movements of N829MG-N259SK include landings and take offs from the following airports:__
COUNTRY CITY/AIRPORT PASSAGES THROUGH THE AIRPORT
Belgium Antwerp 1
Canada Gander, Newfoundland 10
France Le Bourget 2
Germany Frankfurt 1
Germany Frankfurt-Hahn 1
Germany Nurnberg 1
Ireland Shannon 2
Italy Rome 3
Jordan Amman 2
Netherlands Amsterdam 2
Netherlands Groningen 1
Portugal Santa Maria (Azores) 6
Spain Malaga 2
United Kingdom Biggin Hill 2
United Kingdom Hamilton US Naval Air Station, Bermuda 6
United Kingdom Londonderry 2
United Kingdom Providenciales (Turks and Caicos) 7
United States of America Guantánamo Bay US Naval Air Station, Cuba 2
United States of America Teterboro 3
United States of America Washington, DC 2

On edit: Here is the link to a full report from Amnesty International on these flights.

Below the radar: Secret flights to torture and ‘disappearance’ Dated 5 April 2006


And, as underlined above, if there are 380 recorded takeoffs and landings of this plane between March 2001 and May 2005, and if some of these destinations are suspect, then this Mr. Stuart Lasher, who *bought* this plane in 2004 has some 'splainin' to do.

[seafan]

12. Just to restate:

COMPANIES AND AIRCRAFT LINKED TO RENDITION FLIGHTS IN PRESS AND PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS

OWNER/OPERATOR--Registration Number--Manufacturer’s Number--Aircraft TYPE

MARK J. GORDON--N829MG--327--G-III

Registration: registered by MJG Aviation in October 2000 in Florida; the company dissolved July 2004. MJG’s owner also owned Presidential Aviation, a company first registered in Florida in 1998 and dissolved November 2004. The aircraft was re-registered as 259SK in March 2004 by S&K Aviation LLC. S&K Aviation was first registered in Florida in December 2003 and is an active company with a registered agent.

From the Amnesty International Report


So, S&K Aviation re-registered this plane in March 2004.

Wonder when the Mr. Stuart Lasher bought this plane in 2004...

Who wants to bet that this plane is *still in service*..

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Well isn't that interesting

You might want to pass that info along to whoever wrote this story.

[chieftain]

8. This should not be too off putting for Chain Gang Charlie., a

nick name Crist has earned and cherishes. It is emblematic of the deterioration of politics and governance in Florida, that the man who reintroduced the vilified practice of making prisoners wear striped garb to humiliate them is accused of being a liberal by a guy who used to live a pretty wide open lifestyle but is now clinging to the family values voting bloc for his political life. Ah Florida!

[karlrschneider]

13. While I lived in Tampa, I was never offered $5,000 to fly that plane

to Bogota. I swear it!
:eyes:

[AX10]

14. Well, you could say that Crist and the CIA are one in the same.