UK Lawmakers To Launch Rendition Probe

Suspicions That U.S. Uses Remote British Outpost To Detain, Transfer Terror Suspects

(AP)  Lawmakers pledged Sunday to study the movements of planes and ships traveling to the remote British outpost Diego Garcia amid persistent suspicion it is used by U.S. authorities to detain or transfer terrorism suspects.

Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee said it plans a thorough investigation of the use of the Indian Ocean island, which hosts a U.S. military base. Britain leased Diego Garcia, which is halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia, to the United States, and in 1971 barred anyone from entering the islands except by permit.

The United States initially denied using the island for extraordinary rendition flights. However, it acknowledged in February that it had misled the British government and that two suspects had been on flights that stopped to refuel on Diego Garcia en route to Guantanamo Bay and Morocco in 2002.

Reprieve, a British human rights organization, claims the U.S. has used military ships off Diego Garcia as prisons to detain suspects in terror cases. The U.S. Navy has previously said ships elsewhere have been used to hold a few prisoners for short periods, but denied that there are long-term floating prisons.

Committee chairman Mike Gapes said the United States' initial lack of transparency makes it necessary to scrutinize "all flights and ships serviced from Diego Garcia."

"We found it deplorable that previous U.S. assurances about rendition flights through Diego Garcia had turned out to be false," he said.

The new study comes only days after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the United States had studied a list of 391 flights compiled by British human rights groups and lawmakers and told Britain it had found no further extraordinary rendition flights that passed through British territory.

[quatermass2]

It took 50+ years for the CIA''s "family jewels" to be brought into the light, and of course by then very few people even noticed. The only people out there now who would DENY that we are engaged in war crimes are exactly the ones who would SUPPORT them in the first place - wing nuts and right wing yahoos. Meanwhile, it is time to banish "detain" and "detainee" - these are PRISONERS, held in PRISONS and PRISON SHIPS, that we IMPRISON (when we aren''t sending them elsewhere for more thorough TORTURE than even the Blackwater thugs care to engage in.)

[tootall10142]

If we have a ship or two floating around with prisoners then i think we are hiding something from the U.N. Do you the think we are lying at the round table.The United States would not do that we are a honest nation. bibles in hand ,rifle in the other.

[fixhist]

I don''t think serving army can deviate from the operation manuals.
Most likely there could be specialist-task-contractors pulling weight of operating predators,control of detainees.

General Petraus is so decent & humble person,he would have trouble to be rude to scare a cat away.

Didn''t you read 911 commission report? He couldn''t stand firm to say "NO" for initial drones in 2001.

Another two hundred Billion worth un-manned gadgets will come by & go as kite worth Petraus Nay-Yeh cant be different from one to anther.
remember "$25B Kleenex".
These $200B will be total waste to Taxpayers & burden on rest of the world.

btw. has any young dude considered proposing him for association?

[fixhist]

I don''t think serving army can deviate from the operation manuals.
Most likely there could%2

[randynason]

You mean the United States lied to the world community and broke international law , while insisting the rest of the world observe the law?
Say it ain''t so!

[babooph]

Story must have been exposed on internet,or the propaganda system would have continued serving their master.

[formrusmcsgt]

The United States initially denied using the island for extraordinary rendition flights. However, it acknowledged in February that it had misled the British government and that two suspects had been on flights that stopped to refuel on Diego Garcia en route to Guantanamo Bay and Morocco in 2002.
---
Lie to our allies....that''s statesmanship!

[cbsblogger]

The USA has developed a reputation ....sadly.

[smurfcrusher]

Now that it''s too late to fix the wrongs, some British grandstanding politician wants to look like a hero.

What a loser. They knew about these renditions months ago. Typical politician.