MI5 chief denies cover-up claims over detainees

Paylaş
The head of MI5 last night issued a strong defence of the Security Service, denying that his staff had withheld documents relating to Binyam Mohamed from the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC) or had sought to cover up its involvement in the torture of detainees.




The director general, Jonathan Evans, said that claims by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, that there was a "culture of suppression" within the service were "the precise opposite of the truth".



He also contacted the ISC to deny that the service had withheld documents relating to Mohamed, a former Guantánamo Bay detainee, the ISC's chairman, Kim Howells, said last night.



Evans's defence of MI5 came after documents released on Wednesday by the appeal court suggested that Lord Neuberger had criticised MI5 for having "deliberately misled" the committee.



In an article in today's Daily Telegraph, Evans writes that MI5 was trying to protect the country from "enemies" who would use "all the tools at their disposal" – including propaganda – to attack.



"We will do all that we can to keep the country safe from terrorist attack. We will use all the powers available to us under the law," he wrote. "For their part, our enemies will seek to use all tools at their disposal. That means not just bombs, ­bullets and aircraft but also propaganda."



His defence came as US officials last night played down claims that the appeal court's disclosure of CIA information passed to MI5 will damage intelligence-sharing with Britain, as fresh doubts emerged about the accuracy of information given to MPs.



A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the court decision would not provoke a broad review of intelligence liaison between Britain and the US, because the need for close co-operation was greater now than ever.



Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer who served in the Middle East, said: "The relationship between us and the British is probably the strongest relationship in the world. Neither intelligence service would like the judicial system interfering. The people of the US and especially the officers in the agency are grateful for the UK, grateful for our colleagues in MI5 and MI6. These relationships, they have saved Americans on many, many occasions."



White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said the US was "deeply disappointed" in the court judgment. "We shared this information in confidence and with ­certain expectations," he said.



In a joint letter to the Guardian today, David Miliband, the foreign secretary, and Alan Johnson, the home secretary, say guidance to British security and intelligence officers changed after the 9/11 attacks on the US "to make clear their responsibilities not just to avoid any involvement or complicity in unacceptable practice, but also to report on them".



MI5 told the ISC that Mohamed was interrogated "in line with the service's guidance to staff on contact with ­detainees". However, a seven-paragraph summary released by the appeal court shows that the CIA told MI5 that Mohamed had been subjected to "continuous sleep deprivation … threats and inducements".