British intelligence agents will not face charges over claims they were complicit in the illegal rendition and torture of two opponents of former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, prosecutors announced on Thursday.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said there was "insufficient evidence" to bring a case for indirect involvement in the kidnap, false imprisonment or torture of Abdelhakim Belhaj and Sami al-Saadi in 2004.
However, it said a British official was in contact with foreign agents responsible for the seizure of the two men and their families in Asia and their transfer to Libya.
It "remains unclear what impact or influence" the Briton's involvement had, prosecutors said in a statement.
Cori Crider, a lawyer for campaign group Reprieve who is representing the Libyans, said they would fight the case.
"With today's official acknowledgement that British officials were involved in this rendition, the fig leaf of official secrecy in this case is in tatters," she said.
"There is one crucial question: who knew who was on those planes, and for those who knew, what possible reason can there be for them to evade justice?"
Belhaj, a former Islamist militant who became Tripoli's military commander after Kadhafi was ousted in 2011, claims he was detained with his pregnant wife at Bangkok airport and illegally transferred to Libya.
Al-Saadi, his wife and four children claim they were rendered from Hong Kong the same year. Both men say they were subsequently tortured.
London police launched an investigation into the possible complicity of British officials in 2012, and subsequently passed evidence relating to one suspect to prosecutors.
"Following a thorough investigation, the CPS has decided that there is insufficient evidence to charge the suspect with any criminal offence," said Sue Hemming, head of the service's special crime and terrorism division.
The CPS said British officials were not directly involved in the Libyans' treatment.
But one of them communicated with those responsible, shared aspects of what was happening with others in Britain and sought political authority for his actions.
The involvement of the MI6 foreign spy service in rendition operations prompted a split in Britain's intelligence community at the time, according to a recent report in The Guardian newspaper.
Eliza Manningham-Buller, then director general of domestic intelligence service MI5, wrote to then prime minister Tony Blair to complain that MI6's actions were putting her own officers at risk, the newspaper reported.
The Supreme Court in London is currently considering legal action brought by Belhaj against the British government, after hearings took place in November.
British intelligence agents will not face charges over claims they were complicit in the illegal rendition and torture of two opponents of former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, prosecutors announced on Thursday.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said there was “insufficient evidence” to bring a case for indirect involvement in the kidnap, false imprisonment or torture of Abdelhakim Belhaj and Sami al-Saadi in 2004.
However, it said a British official was in contact with foreign agents responsible for the seizure of the two men and their families in Asia and their transfer to Libya.
It “remains unclear what impact or influence” the Briton’s involvement had, prosecutors said in a statement.
Cori Crider, a lawyer for campaign group Reprieve who is representing the Libyans, said they would fight the case.
“With today’s official acknowledgement that British officials were involved in this rendition, the fig leaf of official secrecy in this case is in tatters,” she said.
“There is one crucial question: who knew who was on those planes, and for those who knew, what possible reason can there be for them to evade justice?”
Belhaj, a former Islamist militant who became Tripoli’s military commander after Kadhafi was ousted in 2011, claims he was detained with his pregnant wife at Bangkok airport and illegally transferred to Libya.
Al-Saadi, his wife and four children claim they were rendered from Hong Kong the same year. Both men say they were subsequently tortured.
London police launched an investigation into the possible complicity of British officials in 2012, and subsequently passed evidence relating to one suspect to prosecutors.
“Following a thorough investigation, the CPS has decided that there is insufficient evidence to charge the suspect with any criminal offence,” said Sue Hemming, head of the service’s special crime and terrorism division.
The CPS said British officials were not directly involved in the Libyans’ treatment.
But one of them communicated with those responsible, shared aspects of what was happening with others in Britain and sought political authority for his actions.
The involvement of the MI6 foreign spy service in rendition operations prompted a split in Britain’s intelligence community at the time, according to a recent report in The Guardian newspaper.
Eliza Manningham-Buller, then director general of domestic intelligence service MI5, wrote to then prime minister Tony Blair to complain that MI6’s actions were putting her own officers at risk, the newspaper reported.
The Supreme Court in London is currently considering legal action brought by Belhaj against the British government, after hearings took place in November.
