Daily Times

Britain’s participation in the GWOT has long been synonymous with a jaunty ambivalence towards torture. Not that the nation which once prided itself on fighting for the underdog ever gets its own mitts dirty. For that simply would not do. And, besides, is that not what the natives are for; the outsourcing of torture?

Indeed, in 2004, during those heady days of waging wars simultaneously in Afghanistan and Iraq, Britain suddenly turned its attention to Libya. This was year that Tripoli saw international sanctions mostly lifted as a reward for Col Gaddafi having renounced terrorism and surrendered his WMD programme. And, inevitably, one Tony Blair was right there in the thick of things. It has since emerged that 2004 was also the year that Britain’s MI6 and Libyan intelligence entered into a clandestine collaboration that saw them organise the kidnapping of rebels from the anti-regime Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) with a view to having members thrown into Tripoli jails. This reportedly featured as one of the dictator’s five conditions of de-nuclearisation. Interestingly, the LIFG was behind an assassination attempt against the Libyan strongman back in 1996. A cunning plan that had been partially funded by MI6. How quaint.

The reason this is important now is that Theresa May has this week apologised for the fine mess that Blair had got the country into vis-à-vis rendition. Or to be more precise, the Prime Minister has said sorry to one individual: Abdel Hakim Belhaj, an LIFG rebel leader. He and his pregnant wife were picked up in Thailand back in 2004 and ghosted back to Libya; all on a tip off from the Brits who are always game for a bit of unfair play. Belhaj endured six long years of torture. Another LIFG leader, Sami al-Saadi, was also rendered to Tripoli at around the same time; along with his wife and four children. Her Majesty’s Government awarded the latter a record £2.2million in an out-of-court settlement in 2012. While his wife has been credited with the rather more modest sum of £500,000, Belhaj has said he accepts Downing Street’s apology and that a wrong has been righted. Justice has prevailed.

Yet to be clear, an un-heartfelt sorry and a splash of cash are no substitute for accountability and due process. The time has come to put Blair and Britain’s intelligence agencies on trial for war crimes. After all, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is pondering whether or not it has the jurisdiction to initiate similar proceedings in Afghanistan. And while the jury is still out, if such a trial were to go ahead — the CIA would be among those in the dock. Meaning that it is not entirely unfeasible to have spooks brought to book.

Equally important is to have Britain answer questions on rendition itself; including what the state of play is today. Especially given that the country has, in the intervening years, become militarily engaged in Libya and Syria. And no one quite knows what this involves. Naturally, this should all be held closed-camera. But held it must be.

For there is a great difference in fighting for the underdog and just plain old fighting.  *

Published in Daily Times, May 11^th 2018.