Britain admits CIA flights halted at Diego Garcia

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair came under heavy criticism for Britain’s close alliance with the US in the war in Iraq and its part in the US-led war on terrorism. The latest disclosure could pressure the US to identify other countries used in extraordinary renditions, a practice of transferring suspects without formal extradition proceedings that human rights groups say opens the door for third-party countries to torture suspects.

Miliband told lawmakers he was “very sorry” to have to correct statements made by the government in 2005, 2006 and 2007 that there were no such transfers involving Britain.

He and Rice “both agree that the mistake made in these two cases are not acceptable, and she shares my deep regret that this information has only just come to light,” said Miliband, who has sometimes broken ranks with the British government over military action in Iraq and policies in the Middle East.

The CIA acknowledged that the information previously provided to the British “turned out to be wrong,” despite earlier US assurances that none of the secret flights since the September 11, 2001, attacks had used British airspace or soil.

The agency, which said that neither of the two suspects was tortured or held on Diego Garcia, reviewed rendition records late last year and discovered that in 2002 the CIA had refueled two separate planes.

“The refueling, conducted more than five years ago, lasted just a short time. But it happened. That we found this mistake ourselves, and that we brought it to the attention of the British government, in no way changes or excuses the reality that we were in the wrong,” CIA Director Michael Hayden said in a message obtained by Associated Press.

Despite American assurances, British officials kept pressure on their US counterparts to check all records of rendition flights, according to a British government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

“We consistently sought reassurances because of the high public and parliamentary interest in this issue,” the official added. He said it was not clear what prompted the US investigation.

Washington disclosed that two flights — one bound for the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and one bound for Morocco, stopped at Diego Garcia, which Britain leased to the Americans in the 1960s.

It is unclear why Diego Garcia was used as a refueling point.

The British atoll is in the heart of the Indian Ocean and largely cut off to outsiders or civilians. Although it is a British territory, the US base is controlled by Americans and requests to visit the territory are handled by the US.

At the time of the 2002 flights in question, the US and Britain did not have an agreement regarding the use of the Diego Garcia facility for renditions, and the refueling stops did not require permission from British authorities, the State Department said.

However, that began to change in 2003 with an “evolving” series of understandings that now require the United States to seek and receive British permission to use Diego Garcia for renditions, spokesman Sean McCormack said.

A “final mutual understanding” appears to have been in place by late 2005, when Rice said the United States respects the sovereignty of foreign countries when conducting intelligence operations within their borders, suggesting that the CIA conducts rendition flights with the permission of the governments involved.

Human rights groups have long alleged that the tropical island is a “black site” prison or secret holding pin for terror suspects. Unlike Guantanamo Bay, few journalists have visited the US base.

The US government has denied holding suspects on Diego Garcia.