LONDON — U.S. and British officials disclosed Thursday that two U.S. “extraordinary rendition” flights carrying terrorism suspects refueled on U.K. territory in the Indian Ocean in 2002, despite repeated denials by both governments that clandestine CIA flights had ever used British airspace or territory.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed “disappointment” that the United States notified the British government of the flights just last week, and he and called it a “very serious issue.” Officials from both governments said the flights came to light after a recent review of records by U.S. officials.
British officials have long denied any involvement in the CIA’s rendition program, in which terrorism suspects have been secretly flown for interrogation to countries where torture is often used by government security services.
Although Britain has been a close ally of the United States in Iraq and in the wider war on terrorism, Brown and his predecessor Tony Blair have distanced themselves from a CIA program that has been broadly criticized in Europe.
Britain learned of flights last week
Foreign Minister David Miliband first disclosed the flights in Parliament on Thursday, saying he was “very sorry indeed” to have to correct previous denials by Blair and other top British officials.
Miliband said Britain learned last week that two flights, each carrying a single terrorism suspect, had landed at Diego Garcia, a British atoll in the Indian Ocean that British and U.S. forces use for military operations. Human rights activists have long suspected that Diego Garcia hosted one of the CIA’s secret prisons for terrorism suspects.
Miliband said that neither of the two suspects was a British citizen or resident. He also said that one was now being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and that the other has been released.
Miliband said he believed that U.S. officials had acted in “good faith” and had not intentionally misled Britain. He said he discussed the matter Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“We both agree that the mistakes made in these two cases are not acceptable, and she shares my deep regret that this information has only just come to light,” he said.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed Thursday that Rice called Miliband to express U.S. regret over the error.
“We came up with fresh information that in short order we shared with the British government,” he told reporters. “We regret that there was an error in providing initially that inaccurate information to a good friend and ally.”
Opposition politicians in Britain said the case undermined the credibility of the Blair and Brown governments, as well as the United States. Menzies Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, called the incident “a gross embarrassment” for the British government.
Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative Party politician who leads the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, said in a statement that the matter “will leave the British public unwilling to trust other assurances we have received from the U.S.”
“Mistakes were made”
The admission may reopen a bitter debate between the United States and its allies over how the fight against terrorism should be conducted and compromise future cooperation.
“Mistakes were made in the reporting of the information,” said Gordon Johndroe, National Security Council spokesman for President Bush. Johndroe insisted that cooperation between the U.S. and Britain would not be affected.
But as a sign of its concern, the State Department sent its top lawyer, John Bellinger, to London on Thursday on a two-day mission. Bellinger will try to defuse what many expect will be widespread anger.
Human rights groups demanded a full accounting of the CIA’s rendition program, under which suspects are transported from one country to another, usually in secrecy, without the benefit of open legal proceedings.
“It’s high time the agency is held accountable,” said Julia Hall of Human Rights Watch. She also sought an investigation into the British role in the program. “The U.S. flew hundreds of flights across Europe so the only way to have full accountability is for (Britain) to launch a thorough, national investigation.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
