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No apology for rebel chief tortured by Gaddafi police

 

Kim Sengupta
Friday 09 September 2011 00:00 BST
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Libya's rebel commander revealed last night that Britain has refused to apologise for its part in sending him back to be tortured by Muammar Gaddafi's secret police.

Abdelhakim Belhaj asked Dominic Asquith, the UK's special representative to Libya, several times during a meeting yesterday whether he was prepared to express remorse for Britain's involvement in the US-run "rendition programme", which led to the commander's incarceration.

However, Mr Asquith stated that he was not in a position to do so because the matter was the subject of an inquiry in Britain and he could not pre-empt its findings.

Mr Belhaj had described how he had made clear to MI6 agents that he was being abused when they came to interrogate him in Tripoli while he was a prisoner of the regime. Although the British officials showed they understood his predicament, nothing was done to stop the torture.

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