Torture 'abhorrent,' London says - UPI.com LONDON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The British government believes torture is abhorrent and has no place in the modern world, a British foreign minister said. "The government has a clear position on torture," said Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne in a commentary published by The Guardian newspaper. We do not do it, we do not approve of it and we do not believe it has a place in the modern world. Earlier this week, the newspaper reported that former Libyan dissidents were suing former British intelligence officials, claiming MI6 figures were complicit in their torture during the Moammar Gadhafi era. In December, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, Libya's military commander who worked with NATO forces during Operation Unified Protector, claimed London played a role in his illegal rendition and torture while he was held in Libya's Abu Salim jail. He was captured in Thailand in 2006 and transferred to the Libyan prison. There, he says, he was tortured at the hands of Western and Libyan personnel because he was accused of supporting al-Qaida. Browne said torture, however, was "abhorrent," adding the British government was planning an independent inquiry into allegations of abusive treatment. "Related police investigations must first come to a conclusion but we are committed to establishing the full facts and resolving all of the outstanding issues," he said.