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International News Title: Britain lets more US arms flights land in Scotland THE Government will allow more American aircraft carrying arms to Israel to stop over in Britain despite private concerns that the Pentagon was “playing fast and loose”. The US has asked the Government to let two aircraft with missiles and bombs on board stop at Prestwick in the next fortnight. However, Labour MPs are furious with the US for breaking the rules governing the use of British airports as staging posts when demands on Israel for a ceasefire in Lebanon are growing stronger. The Times has been told that two aircraft that landed at Prestwick last weekend carrying “bunker-busting” bombs had been designated as civilian flights and that the US failed to notify authorities in advance of their hazardous cargoes, as the rules demand. The GBU28 bombs contain 630lbs (285kg) of high explosives and were developed by the US for use in the first Gulf War. The first foreign sale of the GBU28 was the acquisition of 100 units by Israel, authorised in April last year. The munitions are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale approved by the US that Israel is able to draw at will. Last week Israel asked the US to deliver satellite and laser-guided bombs. This was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets to strike in Lebanon. Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, has complained to the White House about the issue and No 10 said yesterday that she had every right to be angry. But, in an attempt to play down the row before today’s Washington summit on Lebanon between Tony Blair and President Bush, Britain is making plain that the dispute is about procedures and not the principle of allowing the aircraft to stop over. “That will be allowed to continue. It is a right we have always granted,” a senior government official said. Both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Downing Street suggested that two more requests by America to send planes carrying missiles as well as components over the next fortnight will go through. It is thought Mr Blair will not raise the issue because the White House is seemingly aware of British feelings. However, he is unlikely to be able to avoid it at his later press conference. Mr Blair, under renewed and persistent attack at home for backing the US’s refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, is expected to ask all sides — including the US — to show more urgency in creating the conditions for a ceasefire. The Prime Minister will today tell Mr Bush that work should begin on the international force that will act as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon. He believes that once this is done the time will be right to press Israel and Hezbollah into a ceasefire. The tone of his words may be the first sign of tension between the two leaders over Lebanon, but diplomatic circles are increasingly worried that the Israeli onslaught will fail and that the ceasefire must come soon. British sources have told The Times that the US flouted the rules by failing to notify the Civil Aviation Authority of the aircrafts’ contents in advance. Civilian flights carrying hazardous substances have to be notified to the authority. Military flights carrying such substances have to inform the Ministry of Defence and, under some circumstances, the Foreign Office. The two flights last weekend were designated by the Pentagon as civilian cargo flights, and thus notifiable to the CAA and not the Ministry of Defence. However, the Government learnt about the cargo in this week, possibly through intelligence sources. The sources who spoke to The Times assumed that the aircraft had been designated as civilian because they were available at the time and the bombs needed to be transported to Israel as soon as possible. Ironically, had the authorities been told — either the CAA or the Ministry — approval would have been given. In their efforts to dampen the row, government departments insisted yesterday that the US would still be allowed to land such sensitive cargoes at British airports but that the Pentagon had been told in no uncertain terms that the rules must be followed. A senior official said: “They have been playing fast and loose. We will haul them up. The procedures are there for a reason. There is an obligation on them to comply and they did not.” An investigation by the CAA into the apparent breaches may conclude today. The revelations prompted fresh disquiet among Labour MPs. David Hamilton, vice-chairman of the Scottish group of Labour MPs, said that if the reports of missiles passing through Prestwick were confirmed, it would be an outrage. He called on Mr Blair to make clear to the White House that it should not use Britain as “a bargaining chip”. Michael Moore, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, has written to Mrs Beckett calling for an investigation. Sources at Prestwick told The Times yesterday that the number of freighter aircraft such as 747s and civil Hercules C130s landing there had become “absolutely unreal”. One aviation official said: “We get two or three a day. The US Government uses civil chartered aircraft a lot now and these aircraft can carry anything . . . military supplies or anything.” Sources at the airport have indicated that the Prestwick stopovers for the bomb cargo flights to Israel happened last weekend but did not know precisely when. Neither did they know what type of aircraft carried the 5,000lb laser- guided bombs. One report has suggested that Airbus A310s were used but local plane spotters’ lists for last weekend show no record of such an aircraft at Prestwick. The controversy comes after revelations that Prestwick played frequent host to CIA flights transferring al-Qaeda suspects to secret prisons. “Whoever is organising this, it’s way above the heads of people here,” an airport official said.
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