"Black rendition" flights did stop in UK territory

For year, British officials denied involvement in U.S. "extraordinary rendition" flights, like those that the Institute revealed last year started in North Carolina and led to torture of terror suspects.

But now, a senior official in the Blair administration has "discovered" evidence of U.K. involvement in two such operations, reports the BBC:

David Miliband has admitted two US 'extraordinary rendition' flights landed on UK territory in 2002.

The foreign secretary said in both cases US planes refuelled on the UK dependent territory of Diego Garcia.

He said he was "very sorry" to have to say that previous denials made in "good faith" were now having to be corrected. [...]

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw and former prime minister Tony Blair made statements in 2005, 2006 and 2007 saying there was no evidence that rendition flights had stopped on UK territory.

For its part, the CIA states that neither of the flights were "ever part of CIA's high-value terrorist interrogation program," and once again asserted the U.S. would never "transport detainees for the purpose of torture."