Protesters arrested at Aero in Smithfield

Eight protesters were arrested in Smithfield this morning at Aero Contractors as they tried to deliver their own "arrest warrants" for three pilots linked to the private air carrier.

Germany recently indicted 13 crew members, including pilots for Aero, in the 2004 kidnapping, detention and transport of Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent.

El-Masri was seized as part of a CIA-run "extraordinary rendition" program, according to published reports. Under the program, people thought to have links to terrorists have been taken for interrogation in countries that have lax rules on questioning suspects.

It is considered unlikely that the United States will extradite those indicted.

About 10 a.m. today, a group of about 40 protesters from North Carolina Stop Torture Now marched toward the barbed-wire enclosed hangars of Aero, located at the Johnston County airport.

The warrants demanded that the management of Aero Contractors direct three of its employees to surrender to the FBI. The protesters carried banners and crime-scene tape.

"The intention was to call attention to the fact that the attorney general [Roy Cooper] has referred this to the FBI ... and there is no investigation yet," said organizer Christina Cowger.

After a gate opened to allow in a landscaping vehicle, nine protesters, including a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old, followed the vehicle inside onto the company's property.

Johnston County sheriff's deputies responded by arresting the nine protesters on trespassing charges. Their names were not immediately available.