With (most) European countries increasingly concerned about their airspace being used by CIA flights linked to “extraordinary rendition” operations, newspapers in Malta and Cyprus today noted that some of the CIA flights made stopovers in those island nations.

Meanwhile, Swedish foreign minister Laila Freivalds has dismissed the allegation that extraordinary rendition flights landed in Sweden. Interesting — if only because the whole renditions story owes a lot to the investigation into a case in that country by television journalist Fredrik Laurin, and because the Swedish government is supposed to be running an investigation of the matter.

A plane linked to the renditions programme yesterday flew from Iceland to the United States via Newfoundland in Canada. The plane, a turboprop with the number N196D landed at Johnston County Airport in Smithfield, North Carolina.