MADRID, 25 November 2005 — Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said yesterday that the government had acted in “conformity with the law” regarding secret CIA flights that landed at Spanish airports.

“This afternoon, deputies and Spanish society will be reassured that the government and the different ministries acted in conformity with the law,” Moratinos ahead of an appearance before parliament later yesterday.

The government is investigating 10 stops in the Balearic islands between Jan. 2004 and Jan. 2005 by planes thought to have ferried suspected extremists to secret US prisons around the world.

A separate probe may look into 10 stops registered by planes chartered by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Canary Islands between Jan. and Oct. 2005.

Moratinos, speaking at a press forum, was tight-lipped about the explanations he would offer over “what the government did once it sensed the concern on the part of Spanish citizens over the stops and the presence of American plans at various Spanish airports.”

As part of “requisite parliamentary courtesy,” he said, “it should be the parliamentarians who hear me first.”

He added: “The government has carried out its duty and all the ministries have done what they were meant to do.”