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Anglo-American Ties ‘Threatened’ as Clinton Moves to Block Release of Torture Evidence

British FM Says US May Stop Sharing Intelligence

by Jason Ditz, July 29, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has personally intervened in a high profile British case today, pressuring for a “gag order” in an attempt to keep evidence of CIA torture from being released by the British government and warning it could affect intelligence ties between the two nations.

Binyam Mohamed, a British resident tortured during a seven year stay in the US “ghost prison” system including a five year stay at Guantamao Bay, has sought the release of a seven-paragraph summary of the CIA’s mistreatment of him during his custody.

Though judges have insisted nothing in the summary is “highly sensitive classified US intelligence,” British Foreign Minister David Milliband has repeatedly asserted that the release of the summary could severely damage Anglo-American relations and might lead the US to stop sharing intelligence with Britain entirely.

Judges have openly doubted this claim, and Lord Justice Thomas says a recent CIA letter “merely demonstrated that the CIA would like the court to withhold from the public findings about CIA wrongdoing,” Secretary Clinton’s statement overtly threatens what Milliband has long claimed, though this too is likely a political move to more than a serious threat by the US to cut its closest ally out of the loop.