jetcloud

clipped from www.spiegel.de

When air traffic controllers hear the code words "ATFM exempt," they know to expect something drastic.

Airlines use the code to report a flight when it has sick or severely injured passengers -- or heads of state -- on board.

The code is the air-traffic equivalent of flashing blue lights on a city street.

The documents also show that mis-identifying the flights was part of a system designed to dodge compliance with complicated approval regulations.

These deceptive maneuvers by the CIA have become the subject of intense scrutiny and debate within German political circles

Under German aviation law, the false declaration of flights is an infringement subject to fines ranging from €10,000 to €25,000. All told, the 390 CIA flights would have incurred fines of between four and 10 million euros.

And yet nothing happened.

If the special investigator of the parliamentary investigation committee arrives at similar conclusions, the government will be forced to take action

Renditions Victim Speaks Out: C