LONDON
Britain acknowledged today that its intelligence agents played a role in the kidnapping and torture of an opponent of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and the man’s wife — a rare admission of wrongdoing by British spies.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright told lawmakers that Prime Minister Theresa May had apologized “unreservedly” to Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boudchar, acknowledging that Britain’s actions “contributed to your detention, rendition and suffering.”
Belhaj, a former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group that had opposed Gadhafi, and Boudchar were kidnapped in Thailand in 2004 and sent to Libya. Boudchar, who was pregnant at the time, says she was tortured and released before giving birth to a son. Belhaj spent six years in custody and says he was tortured repeatedly.
Belhaj and Boudchar say a tip-off from British intelligence helped the CIA abduct them and have spent years pursuing British officials through U.K. courts seeking compensation and an apology.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Wright said the pair had now withdrawn their claims against the British government, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Mark Allen, a former senior officer in the MI6 intelligence agency.
He said as part of an out-of-court settlement, Boudchar would receive 500,000 pounds ($677,000). Belhaj did not seek financial compensation, saying he only wanted an apology.
Wright said the settlement contained no admission of liability. But he read from May’s letter to the couple, which said Britain was “profoundly sorry for the ordeal that you both suffered and our role in it.”
“The U.K. government’s actions contributed to your detention, rendition and suffering,” the letter said.
“The U.K. government shared information about you with its international partners. We should have done more to reduce the risk that you would be mistreated. We accept this was a failing on our part.”
Boudchar was in the public gallery of the House of Commons with her son, now 14, to hear Wright’s apology. Belhaj was due to speak later in Istanbul, where the family now lives.
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