Torture inquiry judge insists he won't resign

THE retired judge leading an inquiry into torture allegations against the UK's security services has rejected calls for him to stand down.

Human rights campaigners opposed Sir Peter Gibson's appointment as chairman of an official investigation into claims of British complicity in the abuse of detainees abroad.

Legal charity Reprieve last week urged him to disqualify himself because his impartiality was "fatally compromised" by his connections to the security services.

But lawyers for Sir Peter, a former appeal court judge, dismissed the "unwarranted and baseless" attack and insisted he was "both independent and impartial".

They wrote to Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith, saying: "The highly publicised attack that has been mounted is both unwarranted and baseless."

Prime Minister David Cameron announced the inquiry on 6 July after claims that former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed was tortured with the knowledge of the British security services while held by the CIA in Pakistan.