A British national who was held on suspicion of terrorism in Bangladesh is to sue home secretary Jacqui Smith, alleging he was tortured in the South Asian country with the complicity of UK security agency MI5.

Former civil servant Jamil Rahman, who grew up in south Wales, also claims he was interrogated by MI5 officers in between beatings by Bangladesh security forces, said the BBC on Wednesday.

Jamil said he was forced to give false confessions, including that he masterminded the 2005 terror attacks on London.

The British government has replied that its security forces neither condone nor use torture. But a Home Office spokeswoman confirmed that Jamil's legal team had written to the home secretary and said the government would respond "in due course".

According to the Guardian newspaper, Jamil is suing in relation to assault, unlawful arrest, and false imprisonment.

Jamil Rahman says he faced repeated beatings by Bangladeshi agents over more than two years while MI5 officers turned a blind eye, the paper said.

The Guardian reported that MI5 agents have been accused of collusion in the torture of British nationals in many countries including Pakistan and Egypt and human rights group Amnesty International wants an independent probe into such claims.

Police said in March they would investigate claims that MI5 was complicit in the torture of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed in Pakistan.

In the latest allegations, Jamil said he was arrested in 2005 by the DGFI - one of Bangladesh's intelligence agencies - and was stripped and beaten.

Jamil settled in Bangladesh after marrying a Bangladeshi woman. He suspected two Europeans were present when he was detained, directing local officers.

Over three weeks of interrogation, he agreed to make taped confessions to terrorist offences, including that he was the mastermind behind the July 2005 suicide bombings in London, which killed 52 people.

He was then questioned by two MI5 agents called Liam and Andrew and told them the confessions were false, the paper said. Shortly after, they left the room and he was beaten and told his wife would be raped.

After his release, he was frequently summoned for fresh interrogations by MI5 and Bangladeshi officials over the next two years, it was reported.
Lawyers for Jamil, who now lives in Britain, claim to have evidence including eyewitness testimony and medical information.

Source: bdnews24.com

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