British probe of 'rendition' case includes events in HK

A criminal probe by British police will expand to cover events in Hong Kong in which UK and US secret agents conspired to handdeliver a suspected Libyan terrorist from China to the torture chambers of Muammar Gaddafi via Chek Lap Kok airport.

It is the latest chapter in a controversial case involving Libyan dissident Sami al-Saadi, who is suing the British government over its complicity in his 'rendition' from Hong Kong to Libya in 2004, where he claims he was tortured for several years under Gaddafi's regime.

Saadi's lawyers launched legal action against the British government in November and, two days ago, the Metropolitan Police Service in London confirmed the case was 'so serious that it is in the public interest' to launch a criminal investigation.

'The investigation will look at what took place before the movement,' a Met spokesman told the South China Morning Post yesterday. He would neither confirm nor deny if police had already approached Hong Kong authorities.

Saadi's lawyers, from both the legal charity Reprieve and the British law firm Leigh Day, have previously described Hong Kong as the 'proverbial scene of the crime' and that any investigation would include the events that happened in the city.

Saadi welcomed the progress in his case. 'The whole family is encouraged to hear this news, and we will do whatever we can to help the Metropolitan Police,' he said through his lawyers.

A spokeswoman for the British consulate in Hong Kong said it could not comment on the case.