WORLD NEWS

 
 LONDON: A senior judge criticised the "dubious record" of some in Britain's secret services in comments finally made public Friday, amid claims they colluded in the torture of a former Guantanamo Bay inmate.

The remarks from Lord David Neuberger, head of the civil justice system in England and Wales, were initially published in a draft judgment earlier this month in the case of Binyam Mohamed.

But they were then removed from the ruling -- effectively keeping them secret -- following a complaint from Jonathan Sumption, one of Britain's top lawyers, who was representing the government.

They have now been made public in what Igor Judge, the lord chief justice of England and Wales, said was in "the interests of open justice".

Neuberger's suppressed comments came in a ruling ordering the release of information about the case of Ethiopian-born Mohamed, who was detained for nearly seven years, including more than four at Guantanamo.

Mohamed claims he was "tortured in medieval ways" and alleges British security service MI5 colluded with US agents in his interrogation in Pakistan in 2002.

Earlier this month, he won a legal bid to force disclosure of evidence about his case despite objections from Foreign Secretary David Miliband, backed by the US government.

Britain had argued that publishing the information could endanger its intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States.