Former UK Chief of Defense Intelligence Indicates That MI6 Agents May Have Been Present During CIA Torture Sessions of Al Qaeda Prisoners

Tom Whitehead

December 12, 2014

British spies may have been present at some CIA torture sessions, a former security minister has suggested, in the closest admission yet that the UK was complicit.

Admiral Lord West said there may have been the “odd case” where UK agents were in the same room when their American counterparts were waterboarding detainees.

In a stark admission, the former chief of defence intelligence said it would be “stupid” for anyone to insist a British spy was never “anywhere close to this”.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is to face questions from MPs next week on what Britain did or did not know and whether she ever lobbied the US Senate committee that revealed the CIA tactics.

The Foreign Office incorrectly stated Mrs May had met the committee in 2011 but the Home Office then revealed she had met the Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein in September this year but insisted the issue did not come up.

However, the Home Office was unable to say whether the Home Secretary had ever discussed the torture investigation with the committee on a previous occasion.

John McTernan, a senior strategist in Tony Blair’s government – which covered the period of the CIA activities – said it was time for the British authorities to come clean and called for a Royal Commission in to the allegations.

What Britain knew of the CIA torture tactics post 9/11 has been thrown in to the spotlight after the devastating report by the US Senate Intelligence Committee this week.

It revealed CIA officers had conducted a brutal regime on captives including repeated waterboarding, slapping, stress positions and sleep deprivation.

But the report was heavily redacted and made no mention of the UK authorities or spy agencies.

Lord West, who was security minister between 2007 and 2010, said torture was “abhorrent” and was not used by the British because “we have to be whiter than white” in the battle against international terrorists.

But he said that 10 or 15 years ago it was not clear to British spies “as to exactly what their position was in regards to these things”.

He said: “Looking back historically, if you are an agent embedded in some foreign country and this was going on, it was quite difficult for them to extricate themselves even though they weren’t implementing that torture.

"So I’m sure there may be the odd case where an agent was aware what the Americans were doing, but that has now been sealed off because they are very clear now what the position is.

"Would we – as we dug around and had some huge inquiry – find that one agent or maybe two agents were once in a room when somebody was waterboarded? Possibly we might."

He told the Daily Telegraph: “It would stupid to think there has never been a case where one of our people has been anywhere close to this.”

But he insisted the UK would not have taken part and dismissed calls for a full inquiry as a “waste of time”.

It has emerged British ministers and officials held 23 meetings with members of the committee since 2009 sparking accusations that the UK sought to have any possible evidence of complicity redacted.

It is now known MI6 had discussions with their US counterparts to censor parts of the executive summary on grounds of national security.

Lord West met with the Senate committee in 2009 but said he “absolutely didn’t lobby any committee about this report”.

Mrs May is to appear before the Commons home affairs select committee on Monday.

Chairman Keith Vaz said: “An open and transparent approach will do much to reassure the public concerning the UK roles in any of these matters if indeed there was any.”

The parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee is currently examined allegations of British complicity in the CIA torture programme but is unlikely to report before 2016.

Downing Street has not ruled out the possibility of a full judicial inquiry if it fails to answer all the questions.

Mr McTernan said the ISC was not up to the task, adding: “If the US can come clean, why can’t we?

“If this is not done, then a suspicion hangs over our security services. We have a right to know.”