Britain and the US lost some of their moral authority through some of the measures they put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday.
Some measures, such as the establishment of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, had been a mistake, Cameron told al-Jazeera television in an interview to mark the 10th anniversary of the al-Qaeda attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
“We can certainly see with hindsight and in some ways at the time, mistakes were made in that we lost some of our moral authority, which is vital to keep when you’re trying to make your case in the world,” Cameron said.
As he spoke, fresh allegations were emerging about the complicity of British intelligence agents in the illegal transfer of terror suspects following the Sept. 11 attacks to countries where they faced torture.
The Guardian newspaper yesterday published claims by Libyan Islamist Sami al-Saadi, also known as Abu Munthir, that in 2004 he and his family were detained by MI6 and handed over to authorities in Libya, who allegedly tortured him.
They follow last week’s claims by Abdelhakim Belhaj, now a rebel military commander in Libya, who said Britain and the US were complicit in a plan that led to his illegal transfer to Libya and subsequent torture.
Cameron set up an inquiry last year to probe allegations of British complicity in the torture of terror suspects after the Sept. 11 attacks. It announced this week it would examine Belhaj’s claims.
Asked about the case, Cameron insisted: “Britain does not torture people. We do not believe in torture. We think torture is wrong.”
However, he said he set up the inquiry to “go through all the cases, including this Libyan case, to get to the truth.”
According to the Guardian, Sami al-Saadi’s case is the first in which British agents have been accused of orchestrating so-called extraordinary rendition, rather than simply helping US-led operations.
A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office declined to comment, telling the newspaper: “Our position is that it is the government’s longstanding policy not to comment on intelligence matters.”
THREATS: Naval facilities have been built in Shanghai and Zhejiang, while airbases have been expanded in Xiamen, Fuzhou and Zhangpu, across the Strait from Taiwan The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of China. That means the CCP might be preparing for potential conflict in Taiwan, it said, adding that there are five such construction sites from north to south. A naval base has been built in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, with underground oil storage tanks, railway
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
GIVE BACK: The president thanked immigrants, recounting heartwarming stories, from a gymnast helping athletes shine internationally to a spouse helping the disadvantaged There is no need to amend the law to exempt Chinese spouses from single allegiance to the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that such changes would only increase the public’s doubts toward new residents from China and would not improve social harmony. Taiwan is a democratic, diverse and free country, he said. “No matter which ethnic group you belong to, where you come from or when you arrive, as long as you identify with Taiwan, you are masters of this country,” he said. Taiwan is a democratic nation that follows the rule of law, where immigrants are
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
RSS