The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has not found any evidence to back up claims that a plane of the US Central Intelligence Agency would have transported suspected terrorist prisoners via Finland.
The Foreign Ministry emphasises in a report submitted to the Council of Europe that it is not possible to investigate retroactively what was being carried in a US-chartered plane that landed at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport in the spring of 2003.
Late last year the Foreign Ministry asked the US for a clarification on what the plane in question was transporting. According to the answer, the documents indicated that the plane had a ten-member crew and no other passengers. According to official information, the plane was carrying supplies for the US Embassy in Helsinki.
The subject of what is generally known as "extraordinary rendition", or the American extra-judicial procedure of sending criminal suspects - usually suspected terrorists or supporters of terrorist organisations - to countries other than the United States for imprisonment and interrogation, became front-page news towards the end of last year.
There were demands in a number of European countries for the investigation of claims that American cargo aircraft chartered by the CIA would have made refuelling stops at their airports, while flying suspected terrorists to countries where US laws banning torture do not apply.
