British facilities were used by the US to transport terrorist suspects at least twice, despite repeated government denials – including by Tony Blair - that the UK had any involvement in extraordinary rendition flights.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, admitted that two US flights carrying terrorist suspects refuelled at the airbase on the British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia in 2002.

In a statement to the Commons he apologised to MPs for having to correct previous denials, blaming a US “administrative error” that had only just come to light. Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, had expressed her “deep regret” at the error and had phoned him to apologise on Wednesday.

Gordon Brown made little attempt to hide his irritation, telling reporters of his disappointment at the “very serious” issue. The Prime Minister said: “We have got to assure ourselves that these procedures will never happen again. It is unfortunate that this was not known and it was unfortunate it happened without us knowing that it had happened, but it’s important to put in procedures [to ensure] that this will not happen again.” John Bellinger, legal adviser to Ms Rice, told a press briefing in London that the error came to light after a “new and even more exhaustive search” carried out in response to continuing allegations that Diego Garcia had been used for such flights.

The US Government had asked the CIA to revisit the records and interview the flight crews, he said. The mistake had arisen because of “an administrative error in the way record searches were conducted”.

Mr Miliband said that Britain was seeking “specific assurances” from Washington on all flights about which concerns had been expressed regarding the use of UK territory. Each of the two flights was carrying a single, nonBritish detainee who did not leave the plane while it was on the ground, he said. One of those detainees has since been released, but the other is still being held at Guantanamo Bay. It is understood one of the flights was en route to the detention centre in Cuba while the other was headed for Morocco.

Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP for Chichester and chairman of the All-Party Group on Rendition, said that yesterday’s admission would undermine faith in US promises on rendition. “This statement will leave the British public unwilling to trust other assurances we have received from the US,” he said.

Mr Blair told MPs less than a year ago that there was no evidence that Diego Garcia had been used by the US to transport terrorist suspects to CIA detention facilities.Three months ago the Foreign Office Minister, Kim Howells, wrote to Mr Tyrie rejecting his call for Britain to investigate independently claims that the British territory had been used to facilitate extraordinary renditions. Mr Howells said that he had received “robust assurances” from the US just the previous month.

What the Government said

“We have not approved and will not approve a policy of facilitating the transfer of individuals through the UK to places where . . . they would face a real risk of torture” – Foreign Office, Jan 19, 2006

“The British Government is not aware of any cases of rendition through the UK since May 1997, apart from the two cases in 1998” – Alistair Darling, March 17, 2006

“I am satisfied . . . that the only rendition which has taken place have been as I have stated” – Jack Straw, then Foreign Secretary, March 31, 2006

“There is no evidence that US rendition flights have used UK airspace (except the two cases in 1998)” – Intelligence and Security Committee report, June 28, 2007

“We would not allow transfer of detainees through our airspace if we had any concerns about individuals” – Letter from Kim Howells, Foreign Office Minister, Nov 2007

“Contrary to earlier explicit assurances that Diego Garcia had not been used for rendition flights, recent US investigations have revealed two occasions in 2002, when this had in fact occurred” David Miliband, Feb 21, 2008



Source: Times archives; US State Department

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