Diego Garcia: the secrets behind the remote US military base - This American military base in British territory is surrounded by controversies and mysteries. From the mass expulsion of islanders, to a secret CIA prison, and people who believe that the missing Malaysia Airlines plane is held there. 

Want to know more about this mysterious military base? Click on the gallery!

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Diego Garcia - Diego Garcia is a paradisiacal island located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, between Australia and Africa. 

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History - Historians believe the island was discovered by the Portuguese in the 16th century and later colonized by the French and British.

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Natives - As Reuters reports, in the 1960s the island was inhabited by the Chagossians, who were expelled from Diego Garcia and sent to neighboring islands such as the Seychelles and the Mauritius to make way for the military project.

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Repercussion - The expulsion of the island's residents had great impact internationally, according to The Nation, marked especially by the natives' struggle to return to their homeland.

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Military base - This is because the island, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, has become a powerful US military base.

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Military deal - This was possible thanks to an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.

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Restricted - Civilian access to the island became restricted. 

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Base - The island served as a military base during the US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Book - Anthropologist David Vine wrote a book about the mysterious place called 'Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia.'

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Strategic location - In the book, Vine argues that Diego Garcia is a strategic point to control Asia and the Persian Gulf, hence the United States' interest in the island.

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CIA prision? - According to the Spanish newspaper Mundiario, the military base has existed since 1971 and is home to one of CIA's prisons.

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Legend? - According to The Telegraph, however, the United States does not confirm the existence of the prison.

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Theory - But apart from the natives' eviction and the supposed CIA prison, Diego Garcia is also the subject of a famous conspiracy theory which has gained track on the internet.

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MH370 - According to the Independent, the theory claims that Diego Garcia could be the explanation for one of the greatest mysteries in civil aviation history: the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines MH370 flight.

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The flight - Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur Airport, and was supposed to land in Beijing. 239 people were on board, including passengers and crew.

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No trace - The crew didn't report anything wrong with the flight before it went off the radars. The automatic airplane system also didn't send any fault alerts.

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Disappearance - But the fact is that the plane mysteriously vanished, causing many conspiracy theories to emerge.

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Contact - According to reports, relatives of Malaysia Airlines passengers tried to reach their family members by cell phone and said they were able to hear the call signal.

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Messages - Other reports say that even three days after the plane disappeared, some phones appeared online on the Chinese QQ messaging service.

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Theory - As The Telegraph shows, the theory linking the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane to Diego Garcia's military base gained strength particularly after the reports of cell phone signals.

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Conspiracy? - Those who believe in the theory argue that the plane was forced  to land on the island by the CIA because of a passenger or an object that was on board.

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Conspiracy? - Those who believe in this theory say that, after the plane landed on Diego Garcia, it was dismantled, burned, and part of its fuselage was thrown in the sea.

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Official position - Still according to The Telegraph, the theory became so popular, that American authorities had to make an official statement denying the landing of the plane in Diego Garcia.

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More theories - According to The Epoch Times, another piece of data strengthened the theory that the plane was diverted to Diego Garcia.

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Help - One of the plane's passengers, engineer Philip Wood, was allegedly able to send a text message and a photo from a cell phone calling for help.

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Prisoners? - According to the conspiracy theorists, he was being kept a prisoner on the island and managed to keep his cell phone hidden.

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Signals - What connects this story to the island of Diego Garcia is the fact that the supposed coordinates of the message indicate a location in that region.

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The mystery continues - There are many theories surrounding the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

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Military base - Among claims from former residents, an alleged CIA prison, and theories about the Malaysia Airlines flight, one thing is certain: the island of Diego Garcia remains a mystery.

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