Former British minister Malcolm Rifkind calls for probe into Hong Kong role in CIA rendition programme that sent Sami al-Saadi to be tortured in Libya
As Prime Minister Theresa May apologises for ‘appalling treatment’ of Abdul Hakim Belhaj, former foreign secretary calls for top-level inquiry into almost identical case that involved a 12-day detention in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s role in a pan-Asia secret rendition programme run by US and British intelligence services should be scrutinised as part of a top-level inquiry, a former British cabinet member has said.
The call from former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind came as it emerged a prominent human rights barrister retained to pursue legal action against the Hong Kong government over an alleged role in the CIA and MI6-led rendition programme – which included cloak-and-dagger operations in Malaysia and Thailand – was no longer involved in the case.
The new probe became a possibility after Britain issued a full public apology earlier in May to Abdul Hakim Belhaj – an opponent of Libya’s then ruling regime led by the late dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
In 2004, Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boudchar – who was 4½ months pregnant at the time – were abducted in Kuala Lumpur following a tip-off from Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) before being transferred to an alleged CIA black site in Thailand.
The couple were taken to Libya, where they were tortured and Belhaj was sentenced to death. The couple were subsequently released.