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PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR CONTACT LISTS, MEDIA AND AIRLINES
- Subject: PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR CONTACT LISTS, MEDIA AND AIRLINES
- From: thor at peace2000.org
- Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 16:15:37 +0100
Dear friends, Peace 2000 is still cut off from the Internet and the smear campaign against us continues. The police are still holding our computers. The airline and the government are now trying to lie about the agreements they made for transporting NATO troops and weapons. The following letter needs to be sent to the airlines currently involved. Many of them do not publish their management or head office contact addresses on their website. Please assist us sending this to them by looking up their email and fax numbers in your local telephone directory and forward the following letter to them. Since we are currently off the Internet, please call +354 557 1000 if you need any further information. You could also try to send a message to my emergency email box: thormag at myrealbox.com. We are using a friends dial up connection to send you this and appologize that at this time nothing can be done with maillist removal requests as we have no technology to handle that that due to the Icelandic police refusing to return our computers and main file server. We ask for your understanding and patience in these difficult times in Iceland. Kind regards Peace 2000 Iceland Thor Magnusson - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HERE COMES THE TEXT OF THE LETTER: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - URGENT ATTENTION! FORWARD IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR HEAD OFFICE FOR ATTENTION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: This message is for the following airlines: Air France, Iberia, Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia Airlines, Saudia Airlines, Air Algerie, Excel Airways, Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia, Southern Winds Arilines, Nigeria Airways, Aeromar. 8 December 2002 REF: Notice of air passenger classaction suit for life threatening negligence Dear Sir, On the 1 December 2002 Peace 2000 Iceland notified you of a Warning to Air Passengers that includes the name of your airline due to your use of aircraft supplied by Air Atlanta of Iceland. In the interest of passenger safety we requested certain information from you. Today, there is still no reply from your company. The office of Peace 2000 in Iceland has repeately written to Air Atlanta with request for informaton and with suggestions, and have no replies. When attempting to speak with the company public relations officer Mr. Erling Aspelund he threw the phone down on us! Yesterday Icelandic newspapers carried statements from Air Atlanta which are false and misleading consumers. In an interview with Morgunbladid, the main newspaper in Iceland, Mr. Hafthor Hafsteinsson Chief Executive of Air Atlanta said that a contract Air Atlanta entered into with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iceland clearly states that it is not for transport of weapons or anything of the sort. This statement is false. On the 21 and 22 November this agreement was presented by the Prime Minister of Iceland Mr. David Oddsson as a contract intended for NATO armaments transport. We have no record of this statement being retracted by the Prime Minister. We have a copy of this contract between Air Atlanta and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iceland. There is no such paragraph as Mr. Hafsteinsson describes in this contract. We shall be happy to provide you a copy of this document if you wish to see it for yourselves. The contract Air Atlanta has entered into with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iceland is open in all directions. The appendix which is in effect the essence of the agreement and that is supposed to describe the air transport undertaken for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is empty. Completely blanco! In other words the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can transport anything they wish with Air Atlanta subject to the indvidual captain of each flight agreeing to accept the payload. Peace 2000 has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a copy of the agreement made with NATO on the basis of the agreement entered into with Atlanta on the 20th November. Or if no formal agreement exists, a copy of the NATO meeting notes/transcriptions where this commitment was made on behalf of the government of Iceland: This request is based on the following statements by the Prime Minister are printed in Morgunbladid Iceland 22. november: 'ICELAND has committed to pay up to 300 million Ikr. to charter aircraft for military transportation on behalf of NATO' '....to strengthen the military capacity of the alliance' '....300 million shall be the maximum of each such military operation' '....supply transport capacity for NATO operations in the form of Icelandic airlines flying troops or military equipment to war areas and the Icelandic government paying the costs' The Prime Minister has not withdrawn his statements. The government response to critisism was imprisonment of Thor Magnusson President of Peace 2000 for several days and a smear campaign against him and the organization in the Icelandic media. Furthermore the Internet connection of the organization has been down for several days. The Icelandic newspapers also report that Atlanta has been flying for the British Ministry of Defence and the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Afghanistan. They say that this is not a war zone as described by insurance companies. There is a strong international public debate about Afghanistan at this time and the actions carried out under the leadership of the US military. Thousands of civilians have been killed by bombing raids that the Icelandic Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Halldor Asgrimsson has described as "international peacework and humanitarian aid". Fighting is continuing every day - there certainly is no peace in Afghanistan at this time. Many, in particular the people being bombed, fear their lifes are in great danger from additional "peacework and humanitarian aid" by people like the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Iceland and his allies. By lending its aircraft to this Air Atlanta has become a party to military operations. Another statement by the management of Air Atlanta in the Icelandic newspapers is as follows: "the airline has never flown into war areas or with armaments to direct military actions..." This statements gives a reason to questions: 1. What is a direct military action? And what is then indirect military action? Is there a difference? 2. Additionally this statement from the management of Air Atlanta leaves questions about the statements of the Icelandic Prime Minister made from the NATO meeting in Prague and published the 22. november in Morgunbladid: "Certain precedent is for assistance like this; earlier this year the Icelandic government paid around 80 million ikr. for four Air Atlanta flights to Afghanistan with aid- and military supplies that can be seen as an indirect support to the actions of the United States and its allies in the country". The Icelandic Prime Minister Mr. David Oddsson, who is the highest-ranking executive of our country, has not retracted these statements. We can therefore only assume the statements are true and correct. We are also lacking firm action from Air Atlanta to distance them from this activity. The only convincing action would termination of the agreement with the Icelandic Foreign Ministry. But rather than doing that as we have suggested, the company made what we regard a rather shaggy statement in Morgunbladid on the 29th November, a week after our warning that the statements made by the Icelandic Prime Minister about a military transport contract with Air Atlanta and Icelandair creates an immediate threat of terrorist attack against their aircraft. When the warning was sent out there was already in circulation on the Internet both in Icelandic and in English text from different individuals stating that Icelandic aircraft have become legitimate targets and that Icelandic passenger aircraft have now been handed over to Bin Laden on a silver platter. These statements arrived at several email addresses here but did not originate from Peace 2000. From the statements published in the Icelandic newspapers the 7th of December, it seems clear that the management of Air Atlanta agrees with the warnings issued by the international peace movement. Chief Executive Hafthor Hafsteinsson says in Morgunbladid: "If this delusive discussion continues it can cause more damage and compromise the air safety of the company". It is not the international peace movement that is giving delusive information. The problem is that instead of distancing themselves from the war mongering activity by terminating forthwith the agreement with the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other similar agreements related to military transportation, Air Atlanta has opted for fighting the peace movement on the issue. Their management even made threats in a TV interview and in the newspapers this last Friday and Saturday to start legal proceedings against peace organizations. It is clear that the responsibility for endangering the lives of unsuspecting air passengers by using aircraft under contract to the NATO military program, is with the airlines selling tickets for transportation on such aircraft, with the aircraft operator and with the Icelandic government that has entered into these agreements knowing how it will compromise civil air passenger safety. The international peace movement may consider a class action suit against your airline if you continue to transport people on aircraft where safety is compromised in this way. You should be aware that Peace 2000 has repeatedly written to Air Atlanta and requested the following information: 1. What safety mesaures have been taken to ensure the safety of their aircraft and passengers? 2. Does Air Atlanta plan to terminate the contract with the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or will this contract continue to be in force? 3. Was Prime Minister David Oddsson lying about the essence of the agreement that Air Atlanta has done with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? The intent to use this agreement for military transport was also confirmed by a representative of the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs while Thor Magnusson President of Peace 2000 was being contained in prison for alerting civil servants and the airlines to the danger. We have also repeated sent the following suggestons to Air Atlanta and Icelandair: 1. The aircraft of these companies immediately be placed under special security measures wherever they are standing or where they arrive in airports in Iceland and overseas. 2. Special security measures be taken with luggage and passengers. 3. The Airline should terminate immediately all contracts for transport that is in any way related to military actions, be these with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iceland, NATO, British Ministry of Defence or others. We have alerted both airlines to the fact that all contracts for using in military context aircraft with civil airline markings or that are operated by a civil airline in public transport of people are at least rash and severely compromise security of civil air passengers. We are also of the opinion that these agreements are not in the spirit of the JAR air safety regulations. Presentations made by Icelandic Prime Minister Mr. David Oddsson from the NATO meeting in Prague the 21 and 22 november about his government agreements with the Icelandic airlines and with NATO about military transport with their aircraft, is likely to direct the attention of terrorist groups to civil aircraft flying under the markings and the flag of Iceland. We have been advised that these statements have travelled around the world, and were for example reported from Prague by a French News Agency to the Middle East where it was printed in Arabic newspapers. This was not initated by Peace 2000. Peace 2000 has offered to issue a certificate - PEACE 2000 CERTIFIED NEUTRAL CARRIER - to Air Atlanta upon the following conditions: 1. All agreements for transport that is in any way connected with military activities have been terminated. 2. Air Atlanta signs a statement promising that the airline will never engage in any transport activity related to military operations. 3. Air Atlanta rejects all war mongering propoganda and war activities and that the airline confirms this by signing the MANIFESTO 2000 issued by UNESCO in the year 2000 - year declared by the United Nations as a year of peace; proposed to UN Secretary General by Peace 2000 in 1996. Naturally we shall be happy to extend our offer to your own airline to issue you with the PEACE 2000 CERTIFIED NEUTRAL CARRIER certificate upon satisfactory proof that your airline has no connections with any military activities or any engagement with companies involved in war mongering. Yours truly, PEACE 2000 ICELAND Thor Magnusson - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Copy of letter sent to you on the 1. December 2002. No reply received: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Reykjavik, 1 December 2002. A Warning to Air Passengers has been issued by the Peace 2000 network, that unfortunately includes the name of your airline. This is because AIR ATLANTA of Iceland have advertised that you are using some of their aircraft. In our opinion, passengers are exposed to additional security risks when flying in aircraft owned or operated by AIR ATLANTA as a result of an agreement ATLANTA has made with the government of Iceland about strengthening the military capacity of NATO with their passenger aircraft. According to news reports by Icelandic Prime Minister David Oddsson Friday 22 November 2002, the agreement with ATLANTA and ICELANDAIR is intended to strengthen NATO military operations by placing the transport capacity of passenger aircraft at the disposal of NATO to move weapons and troops. According to Mr. Oddsson movement of military equipment and troops with these aircraft could start as soon as military agression is launched against Iraq. Many believe this agreement makes the ATLANTA and ICELANDAIR aircraft a legitimate target for opponents in NATO warfare and that these aircraft may now fall within the category of targets described by Osama Bin Laden in his call for terror published Sunday 24th November. Last week, Peace 2000 contacted both Icelandair and Air Atlanta asking for details of the agreement, and for more details about armaments transport the Prime Minister said already took place with Atlanta aircraft. After meeting with the chief of the Icelandic Air Safety Board Mr. Petur Maack, Peace 2000 has a reason to believe international air safety regulations, the JAR protocol, has been compromised. A reason for additional alarm is the airlines refusal to give Peace 2000 any details of the agreement or activities related to this agreement. It is estimated our alerts reach more than 50 million people through a network of over 2500 peacegroups around the world. Due to the immediate danger exposed to passengers, we had to distribute the information without delay. We will advise our network of updates. We are also creating an information website for air travellers with listings of airlines posing a high security risk to passengers due to their connections to war mongering. In order to clear your name from the WARNING TO AIR PASSENGERS, we need the following information: 1. Do you currently carry passengers with aircraft owned or operated by Air Atlanta or Icelandair? 2. Do you intend to carry passengers in the future with aircraft owned or operated by Air Atlanta or Icelandair? 3. Are there currently any agreements in force between your airline and Air Atlanta or Icelandair? 4. Has your airline entered into any agreement or negotiations regarding transport of armaments or troops? 5. Would you consider signing a statement that your airline will never engage in the transportation of military equipment or troops? We look forward to hear from you by return, Yours truly, PEACE 2000 INSTITUTE Thor Magnusson - - - - - - - - - - Enclosure: WARNING TO AIR PASSENGERS - - - - - - - - - - WARNING TO AIR PASSENGERS: WARNING: Icelandair, Atlanta, Air France, Iberia, Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia Airlines, Saudia Airlines, Air Algerie, Excel Airways, Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia, Southern Winds Arilines, Nigeria Airways, Aeromar. These airlines may be using aircraft under contract to fly dangerous weapons and troops. The Prime Minister of Iceland Mr. David Oddsson has announced an agreement with civil airlines intended to strengthening NATO military operations by placing the transport capacity of passenger aircraft at the disposal of NATO to move weapons and troops. Former Icelandic Presidential Candidate, Mr. Thor Magnusson leader of the Peace 2000 movement, was imprisoned when alerting police, members of parliament, civil servants and airlines to the immediate danger this poses to airline passengers that now may be flying in aircraft which form a part of the NATO military program. Mr. Oddsson said movement of weapons with these aircraft could start as soon as military agression is launched against Iraq. Many believe the agreement makes these aircraft a legitimate target for opponents in NATO warfare. Peace 2000 contacted both Icelandair and Air Atlanta asking for details of the agreement, and for more details about armaments transport the Prime Minister said to news reporters have already taken place with Atlanta aircraft. After meeting with the chief of the Icelandic Air Safety Board Mr. Petur Maack, Peace 2000 has a reason to believe international air safety regulations, the JAR protocol, has been compromised. A reason for additional alarm is the airlines refusal to give Peace 2000 any details of the agreement or activities related to this agreement. INTERNATIONAL WARNING: Please be aware that if you are intending to travel with Icelandair or Air Atlanta you may be posed to additional security risk. In the opinion of Peace 2000 these aircraft may now fall within the category of targets described by Osama Bin Laden and his followers. Bin Laden's call for terror published Sunday 24th November in the British Press is an additional cause for alarm. Icelandair operates a trans-atlantic route from Minneappolis/St.Paul, New York, Boston, Baltimore/Washington, Orlando/Florida in the USA to: Reykjavik, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Milano and Barcelona. Air Atlanta operates under it´s own name, but many of their aircraft are camouflaged in the colors and identity of other carriers. According to Atlanta´s website these include: Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Saudia, Air Algerie, Iberia, Excel Airways, Caruda Indonesia, Air Asia, Nigeria Airways, Aeromar, Malaysia Airlines, Southern Winds and various holiday tour operators flying out of London Gatwick airport. Known routes are: Buenous Aires to Miami and Madrid, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpor, Lagos, London Gatwick, London Heathrow for Virgin Atlantic to Lagos Nigeria, Manchester UK for Virgin Atlantic to Orlando Florida, Santo Domingo for Aeromar to Carribian Islands and the USA. Peace 2000 suggests the following precausions to passengers: 1. Call your airline to make sure that they are not using aircraft from Icelandair or Atlanta. 2. You can recognize Icelandic aircraft by their registration ID which starts with TF- 3. If you have other travel options, select a different airline 4. If you do not have other options, take out life insurance for the benefit of your family. If you already hold a reservation or have paid for your ticket: In the opinion of Peace 2000 the use of civil aircraft for military purposes is a breach of international regulations. You should therefore be able to demand a full refund of your ticket. If you are about to board aircraft and see it's registration starts with TF- Demand to fly with another aircraft or a full refund of your ticket. For additional information and updates visit: www.peace2000.org To protest by email: Visit www.peace2000.org to send protest to the Icelandic government and airlines. Media Contact: Thor Magnusson - Peace 2000 - Vogasel 1 - 109 Reykjavik - Iceland. Telephone: +354 557 1000. Fax: +354 552 2000. - www.peace2000.org - Email: thor at peace2000.org
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