MI5, MI6 cleared of torture allegations

LONDON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Britain's MI5 and MI6 were cleared of torture allegations Thursday but could face further investigations over treatment of former alleged Libyan terrorists.

After a nearly four-year investigation, the country's counter-intelligence agencies will not be charged for allegedly mistreating an alleged terrorist suspect at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported.

Binyam Mohamed, a British resident from Ethiopia, accused MI5 and MI6 in 2008 of torture when he was arrested in 2002 in Pakistan.

A statement by the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard said there was insufficient evidence to prove any identifiable person had involvement in aiding and abetting torture.

"Nothing in this decision should be read as concluding that the ill-treatment alleged by Mr. Mohamed did not take place or that it was lawful," the statement said.

Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, and Lynne Owens, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said Thursday another investigation may be launched into the alleged ill-treatment of two people after the counter-intelligence agencies handed them over to Libya for questioning and alleged torture.

The allegations of mistreatment were "so serious that it is in the public interest for them to be investigated now rather than at the conclusion of the detainee inquiry," Scotland Yard said.