A LEADING Greek newspaper has published a photograph of the alleged MI6 station chief in Athens who was reportedly involved in the abduction and torture of Pakistani migrant workers as part of the investigation into the July 7 bombings.

The alleged British spy has already been recalled to Whitehall after his name was carried by the Greek media last month. Senior British security officials have condemned the publication of the picture as grossly irresponsible, saying that it could endanger the man’s life.

The left-of-centre daily Elef-therotypia carried a picture of a middle-aged man in shorts and T-shirt taking part in a marathon race. He is shown squinting in the sunlight, his face contorted with effort.

The paper said that the photograph was given to it by a Greek lawyer acting for 28 Pakistanis who claim to have been abused during their interrogation. The lawyer, Frangiskos Rangoussis, also gives details of the MI6 agent’s apparent role in this extraordinary episode.

The agent was identified this week in a British periodical. This latest disclosure comes after Jack Straw spoke at length to his opposite number in Athens about the controversy.

The Foreign Secretary has robustly denied that any British officers played any role in the alleged arrest or interrogation of terrorist suspects in Greece. Nor, he added, did the British Government ask the Greek police to detain these men.

Diplomatic sources in Athens suggest that the two ministers talked about how to deal with press speculation about the episode. In their telephone conversation on Tuesday Petros Molyviatis told Mr Straw that he intended to make a public statement this week, giving details of his own inquiry into the alleged incident.

The source said: “The minister wants to clear the air as to what did or didn’t happen.”

The migrant workers say that a week after the London attacks, which killed 52 passengers on three Tube trains and a bus, they were seized from their homes. The men say that they were hooded while they were taken to interrogation centres, where they were beaten and their lives threatened by British officers, who questioned them about telephone calls linked to the four suicide bombers. A week later all the men were released without charge.

The incident is scheduled to be debated in the Greek parliament next week. In the latest twist, a Greek opposition leader last night accused the Greek Government of attempting to cover up the incident. Alekos Alavanos, the leader of the Left Coalition, made his remarks after being briefed by Costas Karamanlis, the Prime Minister.

Mr Alavanos said that the Public Order Minister should “come clean” over the incident. The Government has made no official statement on the matter since December 13.

Mr Rangoussis, the lawyer for the Pakistanis, was criticised last week by the Athens Bar Association, which said that his flamboyant performances on television were discrediting the legal profession.