'Torture flights' papers missing

British Government ministers must explain why crucial documents relating to CIA "torture flights" that stopped on sovereign British territory were destroyed, a panel of MPs has said.

A damning appraisal by the influential House of Commons foreign affairs select committee on Britain's role in the rendition of terror suspects and alleged complicity in torture condemns the Government's lack of transparency on vital areas of concern. In particular, the MPs, in a new report call for an explanation for the missing papers, which might explain the role of Diego Garcia, the British overseas territory, in the United States' "extraordinary rendition" programme.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted 18 months ago that two US planes refuelled on the Indian Ocean island.