Terror suspect to sue UK government
Updated on 28 July 2009
A terror suspect who claims he was tortured by the US is to sue the UK government for allowing the rendition flight he was on to refuel on its territory of Diego Garcia.
Iqbal Madni alleges he was picked up in Indonesia and flown by the CIA to Egypt via Diego Garcia, a British territory. He says he then suffered 92 days of abuse in Cairo, including electric shocks.
He was later flown to Afghanistan and then on to Guantanamo Bay where he was held for six years. He was released last year without charge.
Mr Madni, supported by the human rights charity Reprieve, claims that the UK bears responsibility for his rendition through a British overseas territory.
Since 2002, the UK government repeatedly denied that Diego Garcia was used for rendition flights, but on 21 February 2009 Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted to two cases of rendition through the territory. It has not been confirmed whether Mr. Madni was onboard at the time.
Mr Madni's legal action means the High Court is expected to rule on Britain's responsibility.
Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Under an agreement between the US and the UK, the United States set up a military base on the island in the early 1970s.
Reprieve believe that the rendition flight carrying Mr Madni from where he was seized in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Cairo, stopped to refuel at this military base.
Reprieve believe Mr Madni is one of the two cases of rendition that David Miliband admitted to because of the length of time Mr Madni, who now resides in Pakistan, describes being on the flight before it stopped for refuelling and the time the aircraft subsequently took to reach Cairo.
