UK says U.S. rendition flights used its territory

By Adrian Croft

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said for the first time on Thursday the United States had used British territory to transfer terrorism suspects, in an embarrassing apology that corrected previous denials.

Britain, after maintaining for years it was unaware of a British link to such "rendition" flights, said Washington had now told it two planes with detainees refueled at a U.S. base on the British Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia in 2002.

Allegations of covert U.S. activities as part of the "war on terror" have circulated for years. A European investigator said last year he had proof Poland and Romania hosted secret prisons for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

"Contrary to earlier explicit assurances that Diego Garcia had not been used for rendition flights, recent U.S. investigations have now revealed two occasions, both in 2002, when this had in fact occurred," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told parliament.

"In both cases a U.S. plane with a single detainee on board refueled at the U.S. facility in Diego Garcia," he said.

It is embarrassing for the government, already sensitive to criticism that it is too ready to follow Washington's line, with Tony Blair, who was prime minister at the time, dubbed in the press as President George W. Bush's "poodle".

"It's unfortunate mistakes were made in the reporting of the information, but we will continue to have good counter-terrorism cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom," Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told reporters traveling with Bush in Liberia.

STAUNCH ALLY