Links
British military intelligence 'ran renegade torture unit in Iraq'
Fresh evidence has emerged that British military intelligence ran a secret operation in Iraq which authorized degrading and unlawful treatment of prisoners. Documents reveal that prisoners were kept hooded for long periods in intense heat and deprived of sleep by defense intelligence officers. They also reveal that officers running the operation claimed to be answerable only "directly to London".
The revelations will further embarrass the British government, which last month was forced to release documents showing it knew that UK resident and terror suspect Binyam Mohamed had been tortured in Pakistan.
The latest documents emerged during the inquiry into Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel worker beaten to death while in the custody of British troops in September 2003. The inquiry is looking into how interrogation techniques banned by the Government in 1972 and considered torture and degrading treatment were used again in Iraq.