Britain’s role in prosecuting the war on terror under sharp scrutiny in 2 new inquiries

Britain’s role in war on terror under new scrutiny

LONDON — Britain will hold a formal inquiry into whether its government and spy agencies colluded in the torture of terrorism suspects overseas, a potentially embarrassing probe that could affect intelligence gathering and upset ties with allies including the United States.

The government confirmed Friday that Foreign Secretary William Hague had authorized a long-promised judge-led inquiry into allegations British officials were complicit in the mistreatment of suspects held by the U.S., Pakistan and others.

A total of 12 men have filed lawsuits against the British government alleging officials were involved in their purported torture. Police are investigating the actions of two intelligence officers from the MI5 and MI6 spy agencies.

Campaigners have long pressed for an inquiry supervised by a judge to examine Britain’s policy on torture. Their call was supported by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, who last week formed Britain’s new coalition government following an election in which no party won a majority.

“Both parties in the coalition said they wanted that, now what we’re working on is what form that should take,” Hague told the BBC late Thursday. Britain’s Cabinet Office confirmed Friday an inquiry will take place “as soon as is practicable,” but said no details are yet decided.

The inquiry will be one of two separate reviews into how Britain pursued terrorists. A High Court judge ruled Friday that a series of inquests into the deaths of 52 commuters in London’s 2005 transit network bombings will examine possible intelligence failures.

It hasn’t been determined if part, or all, of the torture inquiry would be held in public, or whether it will have the power to compel witnesses to attend. The inquiry will be led by a senior judge — who are seen as more independent and authoritative than government officials — though no one has yet been appointed.

Like Britain’s inquiry into the Iraq war, the inquiry chief is likely only to make recommendations about future conduct, and not have the power to assign criminal liability or apportion blame.

Conservative lawmaker David Davis, who has campaigned for an inquiry, said it must have “full access to all people and papers, in all security classifications, both at home and abroad.”

Britain’s ousted Labour Party government — which held power from 1997 until this month’s election — has denied it deliberately colluded in torture. But ex-Foreign Secretary David Miliband acknowledged in March that Britain “cannot afford the luxury of only dealing” with intelligence agencies overseas which share the U.K.’s standards and laws.

The former head of the country’s domestic spy agency MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, said in March that U.S. intelligence agencies had misled key allies, including Britain, over its treatment of suspected terrorists.

Her comments followed a ruling by one the the country’s top judges, David Neuberger, who said MI5’s insistence — that it was unaware of the harsh treatment of some detainees held overseas in CIA custody — was unreliable. The court ordered the release of a previously secret summary of CIA documents on the treatment of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed.

Under long-standing conventions, nations don’t disclose intelligence shared by their allies, and the White House reacted angrily to the release. Fears in the United States that Britain could no longer be trusted with secrets prompted an urgent assessment of relations between the allies and — according to some officials speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity — slowed the flow of sensitive information from the U.S.

Any attempt by the new inquiry to press officials over how closely Britain was tied to the policies of President George W. Bush’s administration could further strain intelligence ties to the U.S.

Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and, according to the British court, subjected to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities.”

In the other inquiry, Judge Heather Hallett said the inquests into the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings would also examine the work of MI5 and law enforcement officials.

She said MI5 would be asked for evidence on its prior knowledge of the bombers. A report by lawmakers published last year disclosed two of the bombers were known to authorities beforehand but not pursued, because officials were overwhelmed with other threats.

Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report