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Foreign office minister regrets misinforming parliament on rendition
A Foreign Office minister last night expressed regret at misinforming parliament over meetings with the United Nations on extraordinary rendition. In a written reply to a question from to Liberal Democrat Lord Oakeshott, Lord Triesman explained why he told peers that Foreign Office officials had not held talks with the UN on the alleged use of British airports for secret CIA flights, before admitting that a meeting had taken place.

It has been confirmed that Martin Scheinin, the UN Human Rights Commission's special rapporteur, travelled to London for meetings with Home Office and Foreign Office officials in November last year.

Lord Triesman said : "I very much regret this oversight." "Extraordinary rendition was not raised at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office meeting. But I understand it was covered at the meeting in the Home Office in which an FCO official participated.

"The officials who prepared my answer to your original question apparently overlooked that fact.

"The purpose of the Home Office meeting was to discuss the government's terrorism legislation and policy of deportation with assurances. Extraordinary rendition was raised briefly.

"We have sought throughout to keep parliament informed of developments and will continue to do so if new information comes to light," he said.

Fresh demands were made last night for a UK inquiry into so-called ghost flights after Europe's human rights watchdog claimed EU governments almost certainly knew the CIA was "outsourcing torture" by flying al Qaeda suspects through their territories, including the use of Scots airports.

Dick Marty, the Swiss MP investigating rendition claims for the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, said: "The entire continent is involved. It is highly unlikely that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware of the rendition of more than a hundred persons affecting Europe."
"We have no proof, of course, it's highly unlikely!"
Last night Angus Robertson, the SNP's foreign affairs spokesman, called for disclosure from London and Edinburgh, saying: "This is a serious issue about our standing in the world and the UK government and Scottish Executive need to end the culture of secrecy."

Nick Clegg, LibDem foreign affairs spokesman, insisted there ought to be a full government inquiry on rendition. Liberty, the civil rights group, said that if the government did not carry out an investigation, then it could be "complicit in acts of torture".

Tony Blair's spokesman dismissed Mr Marty's report, saying: "From what I have heard, there seem to be no new facts."
Or old facts.

Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-01-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=140718