Jet used by FL Gov candidate Crist has unusual history (CIA renditions)

[seafan]

Jet used by Crist has unusual history

By JOE FOLLICK
August 20, 2006

The private jet used by Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist this weekend for a tour of the state has ties to the CIA and the war on terror.
Under its previous owner, the jet was leased to the CIA to carry a suspected terrorist to another country where he was tortured, according to the Amnesty International Web site.

The plane's current owner is Stuart Lasher, a Tampa businessman and friend of Crist's. He said he wasn't aware of the CIA's use of the plane when he bought it in 2004.
Lasher also said he has not leased the plane to the CIA or any other governmental agency since he purchased the plane, which seats about a dozen passengers and contains leather chairs and TV monitors.

Crist's campaign is paying Lasher for the use of the plane, which carried Crist supporters, including U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., to Pensacola, Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville.
The practice of transporting terror suspects out of the United States to countries more amenable to torture, known as "rendition," has earned the scorn of numerous human rights groups.

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