Met probe into claims British agents gave rebels to Gaddafi torturers

Scotland yard is to investigate claims that two Libyan rebels were tortured after being unlawfully handed to Colonel Gaddafi's regime with the help of British agents.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, said today that the men's claims were "so serious" they should be looked into immediately.

Abdel Hakim Belhadj, head of the Tripoli Military Council, led the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group in its attempts to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi in the
Nineties.

He alleges that in 2004 after he fled the country, MI6 and ministers helped the US to send him and his wife back.

He claims he was subjected to six years of abuse in detention during which he was interrogated by "foreign" agents.

Britain's role in his rendition appeared to be confirmed in a letter from Sir Mark Allen, former director of counter-terrorism at MI6, to Libya's former head of intelligence Moussa Koussa.

The second legal action involves Sami al-Saadi, a member of a Libyan mujahideen group, who is also claiming that he was tortured after being unlawfully rendered to Libya with British involvement.

He claims that the rendition, during which he was separated from his wife and four young children, led to his "inhuman and degrading treatment, batteries and assaults" at the hands of the Libyan authorities.

An official government inquiry into the alleged complicity of the British Government and officials in the torture of terror suspects around the world during the "war on terror" could now be delayed.

Mr Starmer, who did not name the men, said further investigations could take place if other alleged victims came forward.

He also confirmed that no charges are to be brought over two other cases involving former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed and an alleged torture victim at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.