Libyan rebel leader sues UK for ‘mistreatment’

A LIBYAN rebel commander has launched legal action against the UK government over what he claims is its part in the illegal rendition and barbaric treatment of him and his pregnant wife.

Abdel Hakim Belhadj, one of the leaders of anti-Gaddafi forces, has hired law firm Leigh Day & Co,

In 2004 Mr Belhadj, who is also known as Abu Abd Allah Sadiq, was living in exile in Beijing with his wife, Fatima Bouchar, having led a low-level insurgency against the Gaddafi regime.

In early 2004 they were detained en route to the UK where they were trying to seek asylum. They claim they were later separated, handed over to the United States’ authorities and taken to what they believe was a US secret prison, where Mr Belhadj says he was mistreated. He was then detained for six years in prisons in Libya, and claims he was interrogated by “foreign” agents, including some from the UK.

His wife was also imprisoned in Libya for four months, then released just before she gave birth, they say.

Lawyers claim evidence of the UK’s role in the couple’s rendition is detailed in documents held by Libyan security services