Aero Contractors (US)
Encyclopedia
Aero Contractors Ltd., a private charter company based in Smithfield
, North Carolina
, is said to provide discrete air transport services for the Central Intelligence Agency
.
The company was founded in 1979 by the late Jim Rhyne, a former pilot with Air America. The company has 26 planes and 79 employees and operates from the tiny Johnston County Airport.
On May 31, 2005, the New York Times reported that the company was heavily involved in extraordinary rendition
, the transport of terrorism suspects to countries where they can be interrogated to extract information. An Aero Contractors plane was used in the transport of Khalid El-Masri
, a German
citizen who was pulled from a bus on the Serbia
-Macedonia
border and held for three weeks. He was drugged and beaten before being flown to Afghanistan
on a Boeing Business Jet
operated by Aero Contractors. El-Masri was released after five months.
Aero Corporations allegedly operates under several different shell companies, including Stevens Express Leasing, Inc., Premier Executive Transport Services
, Aviation Specialties, Inc., and Devon Holding and Leasing, Inc.
A book published in September 2006, Torture Taxi
: On the Trail of the CIA Rendition Flights includes many details about Aero Contractors' involvement in extraordinary rendition
.
Portions of this article were taken from "Aero Contractors Ltd.", at SourceWatch
, a wikiproject of the Center for Media & Democracy which is licensed under the GFDL. The list of original authors and the article's edit history can be viewed here.
Smithfield, North Carolina
Smithfield is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, United States. In 2008, the estimated population was 12,965. It is the county seat of Johnston County...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, is said to provide discrete air transport services for the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
.
The company was founded in 1979 by the late Jim Rhyne, a former pilot with Air America. The company has 26 planes and 79 employees and operates from the tiny Johnston County Airport.
On May 31, 2005, the New York Times reported that the company was heavily involved in extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
, the transport of terrorism suspects to countries where they can be interrogated to extract information. An Aero Contractors plane was used in the transport of Khalid El-Masri
Khalid El-Masri
Khalid El-Masri is a German citizen who was kidnapped in the Republic of Macedonia, flown to Afghanistan, allegedly beaten, stripped, raped, and interrogated and tortured by the CIA for several months as a part of the War on Terror, and then released...
, a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
citizen who was pulled from a bus on the Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
-Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
border and held for three weeks. He was drugged and beaten before being flown to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
on a Boeing Business Jet
Boeing Business Jet
|-External links:* .* .*...
operated by Aero Contractors. El-Masri was released after five months.
Aero Corporations allegedly operates under several different shell companies, including Stevens Express Leasing, Inc., Premier Executive Transport Services
Premier Executive Transport Services
Premier Executive Transport Services was an airline listed as Foreign Corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is widely believed to be a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency...
, Aviation Specialties, Inc., and Devon Holding and Leasing, Inc.
A book published in September 2006, Torture Taxi
Torture Taxi
Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIA’s Rendition Flights is a 2006 book by A.C. Thompson and Trevor Paglen documenting the CIA's extraordinary rendition program....
: On the Trail of the CIA Rendition Flights includes many details about Aero Contractors' involvement in extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
.
External links
Portions of this article were taken from "Aero Contractors Ltd.", at SourceWatch
SourceWatch
SourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...
, a wikiproject of the Center for Media & Democracy which is licensed under the GFDL. The list of original authors and the article's edit history can be viewed here.