MI5 Ran Renegade Torture Unit

British military intelligence ran a secret torture unit in Iraq, with prisoners deprived of sleep and kept hooded for long periods in intense heat, according to fresh evidence.

Coming the month after the British government was forced to release documents proving it knew terror suspect Binyam Mohamed had been tortured in Pakistan, the evidence indicates that defence intelligence officers running the secret operation claimed to be answerable only "directly to London".

Hotel receptionist Baha Mousa died in the custody of the former Queen's Lancashire Regiment in Basra in September 2003

The revelations surfaced during the inquiry into the 2003 death of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa, who was beaten severely while in the custody of British troops. Suspicion already surrounds the existence of the Joint Forward Interrogation Team, an intelligence unit operating in Iraq that is believed to have used illegal torture techniques and was not answerable to the country's military commanders.

Colonel Christopher Vernon, who explained in a statement to the inquiry that he raised concerns after seeing up to 40 prisoners in a kneeling position with sacks over their heads, said he was told by those in charge that hooding was "accepted practice" and would continue, the Independent reports.

However, the Defence and Intelligence Security Centre, based at Chicksands, Bedfordshire - the British Army's intelligence HQ – maintains it never trained soldiers to use hoods, suggesting there may have been confusion with its "conduct after capture" course, during which students are hooded.

Details courtesy of the Metro.