A former civil servant is threatening to sue a British minister, saying British security agents colluded in his torture by Bangladeshi officers who held him as a terrorism suspect, an official said today.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's office said it had received a letter from lawyers for Briton Jamil Rahman, who alleges he was beaten and tortured over two years by intelligence officers in Bangladesh, and British MI5 security officers ignored the abuse.
"We have received a letter which we will respond to in due course," a Home Office spokesman said.
Britain launched a criminal investigation in March into whether its secret services were complicit in the torture of British resident, Binyam Mohamed, released in February Bay after nearly seven years in detention in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Rahman, 31, who was brought up in Britain but settled in Bangladesh in 2005 after marrying a woman he met while travelling there, told today's Guardiannewspaper he was arrested along with his wife in December 2005.
The Guardianreported that according to his account, which will form the basis of a legal case against Ms Smith, he was stripped, repeatedly beaten and told that his wife would be raped, murdered and her body burned.
Mr Rahman said two British men who identified themselves as MI5 officers also questioned him, but would leave the room while he was beaten.
He said during the two years of interrogations, he was accused of "masterminding" the July 2005 bomb attacks in London, which killed 52 people.
Lawyers for Mr Rahman have written to the Home Office saying they plan to sue Ms Smith, whose government position puts her in charge of security services, for complicity in assault, unlawful arrest, false imprisonment and breaches of human rights.
A Home Office spokesperson declined to comment on the specific allegation but issued a statement saying the British government "unreservedly condemns the use of torture as a matter of fundamental principle and works hard with its international partners to eradicate this abhorrent practice worldwide".
"The security and intelligence agencies do not participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture or inhumane or degrading treatment.
"For reasons both ethical and legal, their policy is not to carry out any action which they know would result in torture or inhuman or degrading treatment," it said.
Reuters