[18/March/2010]

LONDON, March 18 (Saba) -- The UK Government is to delay the publication of new guidelines for intelligence officers and military personnel on the treatment and interrogation of terrorist suspects held overseas, it was disclosed Thursday, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) Kim Howells said last week he had been assured by Prime Minister Gordon Brown that the guidance would be published before today's House of Commons debate on the committee's annual report.

But in a statement today, a Government spokesman said more work was needed on the guidelines in the light of the ICS's recommendations.

"The Government is committed to publishing as soon as possible our consolidated guidance to personnel about the standards we apply during the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas. Our aim of consolidating and publishing this guidance is unprecedented," the spokesman said.

"We welcome the critical contribution of the Intelligence and Security Committee in reviewing the guidance, as part of its important intelligence oversight role.

"The committee's report on the draft guidance is comprehensive and insightful, and has raised a number of issues that need further consideration.

"The Government has therefore asked the ISC to work with them to ensure that the Government's position on these complex issues is properly understood and to help them consider how best to ensure the Government provides clarity here."

In a terse statement, the committee said its review of the new guidelines had been sent to Brown on March 5 and publication now was "a matter for the Prime Minister." Dr Howells also complained that the Government had failed to take steps to ensure the committee's independence in the face of criticism that it is too close to the machinery of government and the intelligence agencies it is supposed to oversee.

In its annual report for 2009/10, published today, the ISC recommended that it should be moved out of the Cabinet Office, where it is currently based, to another government department, such as the Ministry of Justice, which is less directly involved in intelligence matters.

Dr Howells said the fact that the Cabinet Office set the committee's budget and employed its staff represented "another conflict of interest." "Separation and independence are the key issues here," he said.

Saba