Police to probe British spies’ role in rendition

BRITISH spies accused of helping in the rendition and torture of two Libyan rebels will be investigated by police, officials said.

Scotland Yard launched the criminal inquiry after saying the allegations were so serious that they must be investigated immediately and could not wait for an official inquiry into British complicity in torture.

Lawyers for the two Libyans, who are planning legal action against the British government, called for their claims to be investigated “promptly and comprehensively”.

Sami al Saadi, an opponent of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, and Abdel Hakim Belhadj, one of the leaders of anti-Gaddafi forces, allege British spies were complicit in their rendition and ill-treatment in 2004.

Belhadj, 45, a Libyan rebel commander living in exile in Beijing, says he was tortured after being detained with his wife in 2004 en route to Britain where they were trying to seek asylum.

Also known as Abu Abd Allah Sadiq, Belhadj was held for six years in prisons in Libya, and claims he was interrogated by “foreign” agents, including some from Britain.

His wife was also imprisoned in Libya for four months, then released just before she gave birth, they say.

Lawyers claim evidence of Britain’s role in he couple’s rendition is detailed in a number of documents held by the Libyan security services, which came to light after the fall of the Gaddafi regime.

One is a letter from Mark Allen, former director of counter-terrorism at MI6, to Moussa Koussa, head of Gaddafi’s intelligence agency, dated March 18, 2004, the lawyers said.

In it, Allen is said to pass on thanks for helping to arrange Tony Blair’s visit to Gaddafi, writing: “Most importantly, I congratulate you on the safe arrival of Abu Abd Allah Sadiq.

“This was the least we could do for you and for Libya to demonstrate the remarkable relationship we have built over the years.”

Al Saadi, also known as Abu Munthir, has made similar claims, saying he was stopped along with his wife and four young children when he was flying to Britain from his home in Hong Kong in 2004 and taken to Tripoli.

The 45-year-old, who was a member of LIFG (Libyan Islamic Fighting Group) which was fiercely opposed to Gaddafi, said that after the tyrant’s overthrow documents were discovered showing British personnel were instrumental in his detention and rendition.

Solicitors Leigh Day & Co, representing both men, said: “Our clients and their families’ lives have been irreversibly affected by the crimes committed against them by the Gaddafi regime.

“There is substantial evidence of collusion in torture by British security services with the knowledge and express approval of UK ministers. These serious allegations of crime must now be investigated promptly and comprehensively.”

The latest allegations are “so serious that it is in the public interest for them to be investigated now” rather than at the end of the planned inquiry by Peter Gibson into similar claims, the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC and Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens said.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has stressed the government’s desire to “draw a line” under the allegations, but the latest investigation will delay the possibility of that happening.

Human rights groups and campaigners said the lack of charges made the need for an inquiry greater than ever.