Straw to issue assurance over 'torture flights'
20.01.06
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will insist that Britain has done nothing illegal over the so-called 'extraordinary rendition' of terror suspects by the US CIA. Straw is issuing a written Commons statement following a day of mounting pressure for an explanation of UK involvement in the process, amid fears of torture.
It was demanded by MPs after a leaked Foreign office memo warning No. 10 that such operations were almost certainly illegal was published in the New Statesman magazine. The note also cautioned the Prime Minister not to be drawn into detailed answers on the issue.
Straw will use his statement to make plain he has already given MPs all the information he has about US requests, officials indicated last night. The aim was to reassure the Commons that Britain has done nothing illegal, and to outline once again the sequence of events during December, they said.
There have been widespread concerns that the CIA has been seizing suspects around the world and flying them for questioning at so-called 'black sites' in Eastern Europe or in countries such as Jordan and Egypt where torture is prevalent.
MPs have been demanding Government assurances that the aircraft involved are not allowed to use British airports or airspace.
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