UK ignores 'torture flights' says minister

THE government has admitted to turning a blind eye to United States' "torture flights" operated by the CIA through British military airfields.

In a controversial operation, known as "extraordinary rendition", the US intelligence service routinely transports people it accuses of terrorism to sympathetic countries in the Middle East and North Africa. There, it is alleged, they are tortured.

The detainees are flown on privately-registered jets, which frequently make refuelling stops at airports in Britain. The CIA "ghost flights" have also called at RAF bases including Northolt, north of London.