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### Viewing cable 08MADRID1280, SPAIN: ALLEGED DETAINEE FLIGHTS ISSUE BLOWS UP IN

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08MADRID1280 | 2008-12-04 13:01 | 2010-12-02 12:12 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Madrid

`

    VZCZCXRO8488
    RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
    DE RUEHMD #1280/01 3391342
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    R 041342Z DEC 08
    FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5723
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 3694
    RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
    RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
    RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
    RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 001280

    SIPDIS

    FOR EUR/WE

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2018
    TAGS: MARR PREF PGOV PTER KPAO SP
    SUBJECT: SPAIN: ALLEGED DETAINEE FLIGHTS ISSUE BLOWS UP IN
    MEDIA

    REF: A. 07 MADRID 173
    ¶B. MADRID 1021

    MADRID 00001280 001.2 OF 003

    Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Arnold A. Chacon for reasons 1.4
    (b) and (d).

    ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A hot issue in the Spanish press since
    2005, the detainee transfer flights that allegedly transited
    Spain from 2002 until 2006 have once again hit the headlines.
    The most recent flurry of reporting began November 30 when
    El Pais, Spain's leading newspaper, printed several stories
    based on internal GOS documents purporting to relate U.S.
    requests in 2002 for permission to use Spanish airports
    should an emergency arise on flights transporting terrorism
    detainees to Guantanamo. Although GOS officials past and
    present continue to deny knowledge of any illegality, this
    long-running saga could have implications for our Agreement
    on Defense Cooperation (ADC). END SUMMARY.

    The Story that Will Not Die
    ---------------------------

    ¶2. (SBU) The Guantanamo detainee flight story has long since
    become a press staple in Spain. The story appears on front
    pages (starting in El Pais) and disappears every two or three
    months. An investigation is underway in a Spanish court,
    brought by an NGO which claims illegally detained persons
    were transported via Spain. The press reporting almost
    invariably mixes so-called "CIA flights" and U.S. military
    flights via Rota and Moron (of which there are thousands
    annually) indiscriminantly. It also draws heavily on claims
    by various NGOs interested in Guantanamo and presents their
    allegations as fact (e.g., lists of aircraft tail numbers
    from planes alleged to have passed through Spain carrying
    detainees). The progress of the case appears desultory and
    that translates into a periodic rash of stories each time the
    judge receives new information, say from air traffic control
    authorities or the Spanish MOD. Naturally, no allowance is
    made in the press for the fact that Guantanamo, aside from
    being home to the detention facility, is also a U.S. military
    base visited by routine logistical flights.

    Leaks
    -----

    ¶3. (SBU) The current iteration of the story is the most
    virulent so far. It began November 30 when El Pais reported
    a document recounting a 2002 meeting between the then-Spanish
    MFA Director General for North America and the Embassy's
    Political-Military Counselor (NFI) in which the U.S. asked to
    use Spain as an emergency landing destination for flights
    moving detainees from Afghanistan to Guantanamo. The
    newspaper also described a second document from the same MFA
    official, addressed to the MOD Secretary General for Defense
    Policy, expressing the MFA's willingness to grant the U.S.
    request and suggesting use of a "discreet" military airport
    such as Moron. In a related article December 3, El Pais
    published a February 2007 letter from the Spanish President
    of the joint Permanent Committee which manages implementation
    of the ADC, asking the U.S. section to confirm that the U.S.
    was in compliance with Article 25.2 of the ADC with respect
    to U.S. military flights to and from Guantanamo (that article
    exempts from blanket flight clearances any plane carrying
    persons or cargo that would be controversial for Spain). The
    newspaper also published the U.S. section response, which was
    in the affirmative. (Note: In March 2007, the MOD decided
    that all flights to and from Guantanamo would require
    individual clearances; that is the procedure in use today).

    Know Nothings
    -------------

    ¶4. (SBU) Trying to get ahead of the story, FM Moratinos
    announced December 1 the formation of an independent
    investigative team including the Chiefs of Staff to the FM,
    the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and the
    Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs as well as the
    FM's parliamentary advisor. On December 2, Moratinos
    confirmed press reports the investigative team has not been
    able to locate the original of the 2002 document described in
    paragraph 1 (although El Pais has printed a facsimile). This
    has only added to the government's embarrassment.

    ¶5. (C) President Zapatero and his cabinet have let it be

    MADRID 00001280 002.2 OF 003

    known that they had no knowledge of any arrangements the
    previous administration (that of Jose Maria Aznar) might have
    made with the U.S. This tactic could be effective but is
    blunted by allegations the flights continued into 2006, well
    into Zapatero's first term. Given the Socialists'
    consistent, outspoken anti-Guantanamo line, it would be a
    political disaster if they were shown to have winked at
    detainee flights. It would be only somewhat less damaging if
    they were perceived to be so incompetent they did not notice
    the flights. Moratinos has denied any knowledge. Two former
    Zapatero MODs, current President of Congress Jose Bono and
    current senior Socialist Party congressional spokesman Jose
    Antonio Alonso, have said they knew of no illegal U.S.
    activity in Spain. The opposition Popular Party (PP -- the
    party Aznar led) has accused the Zapatero administration of
    leaking documents in an effort to discredit them and to
    distract public attention from Zapatero's alleged mishandling
    of the ailing Spanish economy. The PP has also pointed out
    that of two of the alleged flights occurred under Aznar and
    nine came under Zapatero's presidency. PP leader Mariano
    Rajoy has told the press he knew nothing about the flights,
    although he was First Vice President in Aznar's government at
    the time of the alleged agreement. A unsubstantiated rumor
    claims the leaker is the head of Spain's National
    Intelligence Center who is allegedly trying to pressure his
    former mentor Bono into supporting a renewal of his term as
    director. We put little credence in such rumors, but they
    give a sense of how heated this has become. Adding to
    Zapatero's discomfort, the small but noisy far-left party
    (United Left) is in full cry over the story.

    Subpoenas?
    ----------

    ¶6. (SBU) The prosecutor handling the related court case
    indicated last year that there was no plan to request
    information from the USG (ref a). However, the latest round
    of stories has included speculation that the court might seek
    testimony from Aznar and members of his administration as
    well as from U.S. Embassy officials. We have received no
    official notification of any such requests, and consider it
    unlikely.

    Comment
    -------

    ¶7. (C) Beyond the fact that it sells newspapers, there are a
    variety of reasons for this story,s longevity. Although
    anti-Americanism in Spain is more theoretical than practical
    (the Spanish people fundamentally like the U.S. and want
    strong relations, and the Spanish government is anxious to
    establish closer ties with the incoming U.S. Administration),
    there remains an important segment in the media that is
    old-school European left. More importantly, the
    left-of-center press here enjoys bashing Aznar and his party,
    especially for their support for the war in Iraq.
    Additionally, although itself left-of-center, El Pais has its
    differences with Zapatero and may not mind inflicting pain on
    him as well as Aznar. Neither is El Pais very fond of
    Moratinos.

    ¶8. (C) Whatever the motive, the continual media muddling of
    so-called "CIA flights" and U.S. military flights is
    unhelpful. The ADC provides us the extremely valuable use of
    two military bases in southern Spain midway between the
    continental U.S. and the theaters of operation in Afghanistan
    and Iraq. To the extent our ADC -- which generally receives
    little public attention in Spain -- is hauled onto the front
    pages in connection with the detention facility at
    Guantanamo, we run the risk of seeing political support for
    the ADC and our mil-mil relationship undermined. By
    unfortunate coincidence, the ADC was already in the press in
    recent weeks thanks to MOD Chacon,s repeated references to
    her hope that the U.S. would elevate it to the level of a
    treaty (septel).

    ¶9. (C) In general, we have taken the approach that the less
    said by us to the press on the overflight topic, the better.
    The MFA North America Desk has told us in the past that they
    strongly prefer the Embassy not say anything, fearing it
    might stir the pot. In any case, our ability to beat down
    this story is constrained by the fact that we do not
    ourselves know, factually, what might have transpired five or
    six years ago as the battles in Afghanistan and Iraq began

    MADRID 00001280 003.2 OF 003

    yielding large numbers of potentially dangerous terrorist
    detainees and unlawful combatants. Naturally, we are not
    going to answer questions on the activities of intelligence
    agencies, so in any conversation about these issues we run
    the risk of appearing less than transparent and thus seeming
    to confirm the media,s worst insinuations. When we do speak
    publicly on the issue, our mantra is that we have not
    violated Spanish law and have complied fully with the ADC.
    Needless to say, we decline to comment on any leaked internal
    GOS documents. We also try at every opportunity to make the
    larger point about the war on terror and the very difficult
    choices that are faced when the U.S. captures suspected
    terrorists on foreign battlefields. Frankly, this is a
    losing argument with a Spanish public that -- although
    attuned to the dangers of terrorism -- largely rejects the
    muscular U.S. approach to fighting it overseas.

    ¶10. (C) Thus far, the MOD and MFA have done a reasonably good
    job in their public affairs efforts of making clear that they
    do not believe we have violated the ADC. The MOD issued a
    December 2 statement saying it knew of no U.S. military
    flights that were either illegal or in violation of our
    bilateral agreements (this echoes what MOD officials have
    told us privately -- e.g. ref b). However, we have no
    illusions. Politicians are not going to throw themselves on
    a grenade to protect a predecessor government they despise.
    More than anything, these stories are directed at Aznar and
    his party, and the damage to U.S. interests is in some
    measure collateral.

    ¶11. (C) Our guess is that the story will continue to rear its
    head every month or two for the foreseeable future. It is
    irresistible copy for Spanish editors, and Aznar is the
    left,s favorite bogeyman. The court case, winding its way
    slowly through the system, also provides periodic
    opportunities to revive it. Also, the release in the U.S. at
    some point in the future of information relating Guantanamo
    and Spain would certainly generate renewed press interest
    here. Baring a categorical statement from the USG that no
    detainees passed through Spain -- and we understand that
    might be undesirable from a policy standpoint even if
    factually correct -- nothing but time is going to make this
    go away.
    AGUIRRE

`