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Miliband admits US rendition flights landed in UK territory

21/02/2008

David Miliband has admitted that two US rendition flights landed on UK territory in 2002.

In a statement to MPs today the foreign secretary said that US planes stopped to refuel in the UK territory of Diego Garcia.

Mr Miliband said he "very sorry" to tell the House of Commons that previous reports that the incident had not occurred were incorrect.

He claimed: "Contrary to earlier explicit assurances that Diego Garcia had not been used for rendition flights, recent US investigations have now revealed two occasion, both in 2002, when this had in fact occurred."

The foreign secretary blamed an error in US records for preventing the incident coming to light earlier.

It was confirmed that two US planes with a single detainee on board each refuelled at Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean.

Mr Miliband claimed the detainees did not leave the planes and that at no time have US detainees ever been held on the UK territory.

The foreign secretary said that he had held talks with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and that both had admitted "mistakes made in these two cases are not acceptable".

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that he "shared the disappointment that everyone has".

"The important thing is we put in place the best possible procedures to ensure that this will not happen again," he said speaking in Belgium.

Rendition involves the apprehension and extrajudicial transfer of people from one state to another.