MI6 becomes second agency facing probe

London: Scotland Yard has been called in to investigate whether MI6 officers were involved in the torture of a terrorist suspect.

Spy bosses passed details of the case to Attorney General Baroness Scotland and she called in the police.

The case, which involves the mistreatment of a non-British terrorist suspect - believed to be a "highvalue" Al Qaida boss - last night prompted new calls for an independent public inquiry.

There are claims that the case may be linked to a parallel American torture inquiry and that US investigators have found evidence that British spies sat in on CIA interrogations.

Scotland Yard's involvement means that both of Britain's intelligence services are now under investigation for collusion in torture.

The Metropolitan Police are already investigating whether MI5 officers were colluded with the interrogation of British resident Binyam Mohammad, who claims he was tortured in a secret CIA prison in Morocco before being rendered to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

There were claims last night that the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, acted to "clean its stables" in order to avoid the embarrassment of exposure in the American investigation.

The case calls into question the accuracy of MI6 boss Sir John Scarlett's claim, made only last month, that British spies have been in "no torture and there is no complicity with torture".

Details of the new case were revealed by Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a letter to his Tory shadow William Hague. Hague had demanded answers after two committees condemned its silence.