Government admits rendition flights

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Gordon Brown expressed his "disappointment" following the disclosure that two flights had refuelled on the British Indian Ocean island territory of Diego Garcia in 2002, despite years of denials.

Six years on, one of the suspects involved is still being held by the US at Guantanamo Bay. The other has been released.

"We have got to assure ourselves that these procedures will never happen again," the Prime Minister told reporters in Brussels where he was holding talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Opposition parties warned the disclosures could undermine public trust in the "special relationship" with the US, while expressing concern that the two cases which had been identified may only be the "tip of the iceberg".

In the Commons, Foreign Secretary David Miliband told MPs that he was "very sorry indeed" that he now had to "correct" statements made by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Mr Miliband accepted previous US assurances that no rendition flights had landed on British soil or flown through British airspace since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, had been given in "good faith".

Nevertheless, he said that for the "avoidance of doubt", Foreign Office officials would now be drawing up a list of flights involving UK facilities about which concerns had been expressed.

Once it is complete, it will be presented to the US in order to obtain a "specific assurance" that none of the flights had been involved in rendition.

Officials said that they would be approaching organisations like Amnesty International for details of any flights which had aroused their suspicions.