What a surprise ... Blair claims he didn’t know about Libyans’ torture ordeal
TONY Blair yesterday insisted he did not know about Britain’s involvement in the torture and kidnap of a Libyan dissident.
Theresa May made an unprecedented apology a fortnight ago to Abdel Hakim Belhaj, 52, and his pregnant wife Fatima Boudchar, 40.
She acknowledged their ‘ appalling treatment’ and Britain’s complicity in extraordinary rendition, where suspects are flown to another state for interrogation. However, Mr Blair, who was prime minister at the time, yesterday said the incident had not come to his attention.
He told the BBC: ‘I have gone along with what the Government’s done, which is issue the apology. I didn’t actually know myself about this case until after I left office. I’m sorry for any mistreatment that’s been given to people. How on Earth would you ever justify that?
‘I have always been wholly and 100 per cent in all circumstances opposed to the use of torture. This case wasn’t brought to my attention. It’s not something I dealt with myself when I was in government. That’s all I can say.’
Mr Blair was being questioned about how his government and MI6 colluded in sending Muammar Gaddafi’s enemies back to face mistreatment in 2004. Mrs Boudchar, who will receive £500,000 from the Government, has accused Mr Blair of committing a ‘criminal act’. Mr Belhaj has said he will not accept a penny. The pair were handed over to Gaddafi in the month that Mr Blair struck his ‘deal in the desert’ with the Libyan dictator.
Documents discovered during the 2011 Libyan uprising show that before the pact was agreed, the tyrant had written to Mr Blair making five demands in return for disarmament. It is not clear what those demands were. In a separate document, then MI6 counterterror chief Sir Mark Allen told Libyan intelligence chiefs that Mr Belhaj’s capture had been possible only thanks to British intelligence.
Cori Crider, Mr Belhaj’s lawyer at Reprieve, said: ‘Mr Blair says he knew nothing about the abduction of Belhaj and his wife.
‘If that’s right, why did he not follow Theresa May’s example and say he is profoundly sorry? Instead he says he is “content to go along” with the apology, while implying that there is more to the story. Perhaps he’d like to explain what the five requests were that Gaddafi apparently made directly to him in a letter, in exchange for the deal in the desert? The CIA brutalised a pregnant woman and an anti-Gaddafi dissident, and delivered them to Gaddafi’s torturers, with British help.
‘Both we and the police collected thousands of pages of evidence in this case. If the British people want to know who knew what at the time, there’s a simple solution: hold a public inquiry and let’s get to the bottom of it.’ Mr Belhaj said: ‘The people of Britain have the good sense not to get distracted by spin in my case.
‘Mrs May had it right: my wife and I were subjected to appalling treatment.’
Mr Belhaj, a former member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and his wife were kidnapped by the US in Thailand following a tip- off by MI6, then handed over to Gaddafi. He was held for six years and Mrs Boudchar for four months.