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MI6 boss says his spies have nothing to do with torture
10 Aug 2009The head of MI6 insisted today that there has been “no torture and no complicity in torture” by his secret service.
Sir John Scarlett said his officers had to protect the UK against terrorism but stressed they were also committed to human rights and liberal democracy.
The Secret Intelligence Service chief spoke out as the Government faced calls for an independent inquiry into possible British complicity in overseas torture by the United States.
His remarks put the spotlight on MI5, which is being investigated by the police over claims that it colluded with the alleged mistreatment of British resident Binyam Mohamed.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Home Secretary Alan Johnson yesterday admitted that they could never eliminate the risk of mistreatment of terror suspects but said allegations of wrongdoing were taken very seriously.
In the first broadcast interview by a serving head of MI6, Sir John denied that British intelligence services had been compromised by their close relationship with counterparts in the US.
“Our American allies know that we are our own service, that we are here to work for the British interests and the United Kingdom. We're an independent service working to our own laws — nobody else's — and to our own values,” he told BBC Radio 4.
He added: “Our officers are as committed to the values and the human rights values of liberal democracy as anybody else.”
Mr Mohamed alleges that British officers were aware he was tortured in Morocco, where he was imprisoned while being transferred from Pakistan to Guantanamo Bay. Sir John also discussed the reliability of intelligence about Iraq before the US-led invasion. At the time, he was the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which had ownership of the 2002 dossier which contained the claim that Saddam Hussein would be able to deploy weapons of mass destruction “within 45 minutes”. The Iraq Inquiry is expected to examine how the intelligence was presented.
Sir John said he had no regrets over the issue, but conceded that the episode had been “a difficult time for the service”.He will step down as the head of MI6 in November.
* An al-Qaeda suspect has been secretly ejected from Britain and barred from ever returning, it emerged today. Mahmoud Abu Rideh was flown to an unnamed Middle Eastern country last week after Home Secretary Alan Johnson imposed an exclusion order on him. Rideh, who has spent the past eight years in jail or on a control order, was among 17 men arrested shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Reader views (6)
"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall................"
Will G.W.Bush and Tony "Poodle" Blair catch him???????
I think not.
- Frank, Bristol UK, 10/08/2009 21:56
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We ask the head of MI6 if he is guilty of allowing torture? isn't that like asking Sadaam Hussein if he had WMD's. Funnily enough Sadaam was telling the truth.
- Kerry, Purley, 10/08/2009 17:35
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torture them, why should we be one of the few countries that don't. As long as we only get it wrong now and again, who cares, what's a bit of discomfort when it comes to saving innocent lives?
- Gareth, Hackney, 10/08/2009 11:15
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Well, I would be very worried if they did not engage in this sort of thing; after all its what they are supposed to do. When you catch a terrorist you dont offer him a cup of tea and a piece of cake and have a nice cosey chat. People should wake up and get real, there are some very nasty people out their and kid gloves are not whats needed.
- Mark Russell, Limoges, France, 10/08/2009 10:54
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Why would anyone believe a word that John Scarlett says? He got the job because he falsified inteligence for Blair that was instrumental in taking this country into an illegal war.
- Peter B, Hants, 10/08/2009 10:12
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Regarding the last item mentioned - in a joint letter on Tuesday 17 June 2008 to the Guardian entitled "Driven beyond despair by control order" by names including none other than Helena Kennedy QC, Terry Waite, Moazzam Begg and Clare Short MP:
"Mr Abu Rideh has never been charged with any offence, nor have his solicitors been shown any evidence of why he is considered a security risk. No one has lived under a control order for longer than Mr Abu Rideh, and yet before the three years of control order existence he had already been interned for three and a half years without trial. "
- Jane Smith, London, 10/08/2009 10:12
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