Tony Blair condemns torture in wake of CIA report [View all]

[deminks]

The Poodle Barks (through a spokesperson)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11294571/Tony-Blair-condemns-torture-in-wake-of-CIA-report.html


Tony Blair has made his first public condemnation of torture since the publication of a US Senate committee report on the CIA, as the former prime minister continued to face calls to reveal what he knew about Britain's role.


A spokesman for Mr Blair's office said the ex-premier believed torture of suspects in the war on terror was not only "totally unacceptable" but "counter-productive".


It came as a chorus of senior Labour figures said Mr Blair, along with Jack Straw and David Miliband, should appear before the parliamentary committee examining whether Britain was complicit in the brutal US interrogation programme.


A spokesman for Mr Blair's office said: "For the avoidance of doubt, Tony Blair has always been opposed to the use of torture, has always said so publicly and privately, has never condoned its use and - as is shown by internal government documentation already made public - thinks it is totally unacceptable.


"He believes the fight against radical Islamism is a fight about values, and acting contrary to those values - as in the use of torture - is therefore not just wrong but counter-productive."

(end snip)

Be interesting to see if they really make him or Straw testify.