By Jeremy Gordin, Juggie Naran, Chiara Carter & Sheena Adams
Maverick British politician George Galloway is more convinced than ever that members of the British secret service were involved in and present at the alleged "rendition" of Pakistani national Khalid Mahmood Rashid in South Africa.
That Rashid had been the subject of a rendition - that he had been illegally handed over to another country's security agents - was suggested a week ago by Zehir Omar, the advocate representing Rashid's family in the Pretoria High Court, where Rashid's whereabouts have been the subject of a court case.
There have been numerous recent international reports about renditions - the spiriting away of people whose names appear on certain "terrorist" lists to so-called "black sites", secret prisons run by the United States and its allies around the world. These detainees, who have no recourse to the courts, are often transported across the globe on chartered flights.
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'Terrorist' lists Galloway, the feisty MP who founded the Respect party after he was fired by Prime Minister Tony Blair for being opposed to the war in Iraq, asked on March 28 in the House of Commons about Rashid's arrest on October 31 in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal.
Galloway was told by Hazel Blears, minister of state in the home office, that it was the UK government's understanding that "Rashid was removed from South Africa on immigration grounds" and that the issue was therefore "a matter for the South African authorities".
Galloway said on Friday night via Ron Mackay, his political spokesperson, that he strongly suspected that Rashid had been handed over to British secret service agents by the South Africans - for two reasons.
"The first," said Mackay, "is that George asks who has ever heard of a special flight being arranged out of an air force base in the middle of the night for one insignificant illegal immigrant?
"The second is that George has gone on plugging away, asking about Rashid - and he has hit nothing but a blank wall.
'A matter for the SA authorities'
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