No prosecution for MI5 officer over claims of links to torture

Scotland Yard launched an inquiry after Mr Mohamed said an employee of the security service was aware of his ill-treatment while he was being held in Pakistan in 2002.

But director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer said yesterday there was "insufficient evidence" to prosecute the man, known as witness B, for any offence.

Mr Mohamed, an Ethiopian Muslim convert who lived in west London after being granted refugee status in 1994, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002. He claims he was tortured into falsely confessing to terrorist activities and held incommunicado without access to a lawyer for more than two-and-a-half years.

The terror suspect said he was secretly transported to Morocco and tortured before being flown to Afghanistan and then Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September 2004.

The United States government dropped all charges against him in October 2008 and he was released and returned to Britain in February 2009.

In February, then Foreign Secretary David Miliband lost a legal battle to prevent disclosure of a seven paragraph summary of information of what MI5 knew about his treatment by United States authorities.

One of the key paragraphs that emerged following a ruling by three of the country's highest-ranking judges stated the reported treatment "could readily be contended to be at the very least cruel, inhuman and degrading".

It emerged on Tuesday that secret payouts will be made to 16 former Guantanamo Bay detainees, including Mr Mohamed. Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said the controversial move was necessary to avoid a protracted, complex and expensive legal battle. Others are believed to include Bishar Al Rawi, Jamil El Banna, Richard Belmar, Omar Deghayes and Martin Mubanga.

Their allegations included claims that the Government knew they were being illegally transferred to Guantanamo Bay but failed to prevent it. There were also claims British security and intelligence officials colluded in their torture and abuse. Other allegations included that British agents witnessed mistreatment, including the use of hoods and shackles. In a statement Mr Starmer said: "The Crown Prosecution Service has advised the Metropolitan Police that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute witness B for any criminal offence arising from the interview of Binyam Mohamed in Pakistan on 17 May 2002.

"We are unable to release further information at this stage because the wider investigation into other potential criminal conduct arising from allegations made by Mr Mohamed in interviews with the police is still ongoing."

The "wider investigation" is understood to refer to an inquiry into claims MI6 officials have also been linked to torture.

Detectives from Scotland Yard are examining "the conditions under which a non-Briton was held" and "potential involvement of British personnel".

A Metropolitan Police spokesman declined to comment.

Mr Starmer's decision could bring a broader inquiry into claims of British complicity in torture during the war against terror a step closer. It is hoped former Appeal Court judge Sir Peter Gibson will begin the independent inquiry by the end of this year.

MI5 Director General Jonathan Evans welcomed the DPP's decision. "I am delighted that after a thorough police investigation the Crown Prosecution Service has concluded that Witness B has no case to answer in respect of his interviewing of Mr Binyam Mohammed."