This article is machine translated by Google from Norwegian
The leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Storting, Olav Akselsen, has asked the political leadership in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take a new round and investigate the allegations that the CIA has used Norwegian airports and Norwegian air territory. Ny Tid wrote on 11 November about an aircraft, a Gulfstream with the characteristic "N50BH", which landed at Gardermoen on 20 July this year. The plane has landed on Guantanamo Bay on several occasions in recent years, and it is linked to the CIA. On both 14 October and 11 November, Ny Tid was able to reveal lists of several CIA aircraft that have been in Norwegian airspace one or more times. The Norwegian authorities must not have known whether these planes were in the CIA's service or not in connection with the landing on 20 July or during the overflights.
- I have no more knowledge of this case than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated, and have no reason to doubt their information, says Olav Akselsen. He points out that the State Department has received guarantees from the US Embassy that a Gulfstream plane that landed at Gardermoen this summer was not here on assignment for the CIA or other government institutions in the US.
- I have nevertheless asked the political leadership in the ministry to go into the matter again, to find out if there is anything more here. In that connection, it is natural that the ministry also looks at the experiences other countries have made in this case, says Olav Akselsen.
In recent weeks, a number of countries in Europe have launched various investigations to uncover what has happened in connection with the many aircraft associated with CIA and CIA operations. Basically, this is a difficult job, since the CIA never discloses what they are doing. On the other hand, the CIA or other intelligence services violate both national and international flight rules and laws if they do not disclose what the aircraft's mission is in a country. Aircraft on CIA missions, regardless of whether they are civil or not, must inform the Norwegian authorities that the aircraft is on a state mission when it either lands in Norway or flies through Norwegian air territory.
CIA at Evenes?
Several civilian aircraft that the CIA has leased on a number of occasions have either been in Norway or used Norwegian airspace. Ny Tid has helped track down several of these planes, but all indications are that there are more.
According to Canadian authorities, a CIA plane with the registration code "N85V" has been at Evenes airport in Nordland. This emerges in an answer from the Danish Minister of Transport Flemming Hansen to a question from the Member of Parliament Frank Aaen from the Unity List.
The answer from Flemming Hansen states that the plane "N85V" has twice been over Greenland. This is a trip from White Plain (USA) to Helsinki and a flight from Harstad / Narvik / Evenes (Norway) to White Plain. In addition to the plane having landed on Evenes, all indications are that the trip from Helsinki has also passed through Norwegian air territory to get from Finland to Greenland.
But the information, which the Danish Minister of Transport must have received from the Canadian aviation authorities in NAV CANADA, does not agree with the overviews Norwegian Avinor has.
Avinor's communications director, Ove Narvesen, says the plane in question is unknown to them.
- This aircraft (N85V) has not been in a Norwegian airport – after 1999 – and according to our registers it has never flown over Norwegian airspace, says Narvesen, who does not know why the aircraft is therefore linked to a landing at Evenes.
"N85V" is owned by Wells Fargo Bank Nortwest Na Trustee, according to the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). The company owns several aircraft, including the N168BF and N368CE. The first has landed in Sweden in September this year, while the others have on at least one occasion been at the military air base Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, writes the newspaper Aftonbladet.