The Hindu : International : Blair admits U.K. breached Geneva rules

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Thursday, Jul 01, 2004

International

International

Blair admits U.K. breached Geneva rules

By Richard Norton-Taylor

LONDON, JUNE 30. Arabs detained by the U.S. complained about their treatment to British intelligence officers who on one occasion questioned an Iraqi prisoner in conditions which breached the Geneva convention, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has admitted.

The disclosure was made yesterday by the U.K.'s parliamentary security and intelligence committee, which also attacked the Government for failing to respond to its earlier criticism of the use of intelligence in the run-up to the war against Iraq.

The Government is expecting further criticism from the Butler committee to investigate the use of intelligence before the invasion of Iraq. Its report will be published on July 14, the eve of two by-elections.

Yesterday's report disclosed that two British intelligence officers were present when they interviewed an Iraqi prisoner. ``The detainee was brought in hooded and shackled by the U.S. military, and remained so during the one hour interview,'' Mr. Blair said in a letter to the intelligence committee.

The letter, which the committee described as ``very recent'', is censored to cover up the location of interrogations conducted by British intelligence officers.

In his letter, Mr. Blair said they ``understood these measures to be for security purposes and did not report it at the time since they were not then aware that hooding was unacceptable.''

With one exception, he said, interviews were conducted ``in a manner consistent with the principles laid down in the Geneva convention.'' However, Mr. Blair added: ``Some of the detainees questioned by U.K. intelligence personnel have complained — either during their detention or subsequently — about their treatment in detention.'' He told the committee that British interrogations in Guantanamo Bay and Bagram, in Afghanistan, had helped to counter threats from Islamic terrorism in Britain, and in Iraq had `facilitated' the disruption of planned attacks against coalition forces there.

On Monday, Mr. Blair said that he was still in discussion with the U.S. authorities over the release of four Britons held at Guantanamo Bay. The report attacked as ``extremely unsatisfactory'' U.K.'s failure to respond to the committee's criticism last year of the Iraqi weapons dossier. — Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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