07/06/2006

UK accused of collusion in terror flights

Britain has been accused of being one of 14 European countries which colluded with alleged CIA rendition flights.

A report for the Council of Europe by Swiss MP Dick Marty concluded that a "spider's web" of flights secretly carrying terror suspects had operated across Europe, in contravention to European human rights legislation.

Mr Marty's report said that it was now "clear" that "authorities in several European countries actively participated with the CIA in these unlawful activities."

The report said that countries such as Spain, Turkey and Germany had provided 'staging posts' for the operations, while other countries such as Italy, Sweden, Bosnia and Macedonia had allowed the rendition of residents from their country.

Britain, along with other countries such as Ireland, Portugal and Greece were accused to providing stop-overs for CIA planes.

The report also accused the UK of providing information that was allegedly used in the torture of one terror suspect - Binyam Mohammed al Habashi, 27, who is an Ethiopian citizen who had been a UK resident since 1994.

He is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay ahead of facing a military tribunal. He was arrested in Pakistan after visiting Afghanistan.

The UK is accused of providing personal information about Mr al Habashi's background, which was used when he was allegedly tortured in Morocco.

It also alleged that there was evidence that the CIA had operated secret jails in both Poland and Romania, although this has been denied by both countries.

The UK has also repeatedly denied involvement in the so-called terror flights. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said that there was still no evidence that the flights mentioned in the report were used for rendition operations.

(KMcA)

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