Rice changes policy and says US cannot use torture overseas

• US amends policy on treatment to prisoners outwith country

• Former policy allowed "cruel or degrading practices" abroad

• 176 CIA flights are known to have passed through Scotland

Key quote "(the policy) extends to US personnel wherever they are, whether they are in the US or outside the US" - CONDOLEEZZA RICE

Story in full THE United States performed a U-turn over the treatment of prisoners abroad yesterday when the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, ruled out the use of torture.

She said no US personnel could use cruel or degrading practices at home or abroad - contradicting a previous policy, which held that a ban on such treatment did not apply to Americans working overseas.

The old rules meant CIA employees could use methods abroad that would not be allowed in the US. But yesterday Ms Rice said that, as a matter of policy, the United Nations Convention against Torture "extends to US personnel wherever they are, whether they are in the US or outside the US".

Ms Rice's comments came amid increasing European anger over CIA flights of terrorist prisoners to secret jails where it is alleged they have been tortured. There has been criticism over techniques such as "waterboarding", in which detainees are strapped to a plank and dumped in water. As many as 400 CIA planes carrying detainees have passed through 18 UK airports in a process known as "extraordinary rendition".

As the row continued, Europe's leading human rights watchdog said yesterday that it hoped soon to be able to monitor satellite footage of suspect sites in Romania and Poland as part of its investigation into alleged secret CIA prisons and flights in Europe.

A Council of Europe official said it had been granted access to satellite footage in the archives of the European Union's main satellite centre, as well as to logbooks held by the EU's air safety organisation. "They are willing to give us the information we need, but they need the permission of the national authorities," Rene van der Linden, the chairman of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, said.

Brussels-based Eurocontrol - also known as the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation - develops, co-ordinates and plans pan-European air traffic management strategies. Member states send Eurocontrol their flight logs, of civilian and military planes, but do not publish them.

At least 176 CIA flights are known to have passed through Scotland, but Britain's co-operation with the US over the transfer of terror suspects was defended by Tony Blair.

At Question Time, Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, demanded to know the extent to which Britain had co-operated with the US over extraordinary rendition.

Mr Blair said some individuals had to be detained for international terrorism reasons and some were dangerous, while others had vital information. However, he said that use of torture could never be justified.

Chris Ballance, a Green MSP, and Rosemary Burnett, of Amnesty International, are to hand in a letter to the US Consulate in Edinburgh demanding an end to the use of Scottish airfields by CIA planes.