Jack Straw at risk of compensation bill over alleged Libyan 'torture victim' Lawyers for Mr Belhadj say they have already started the early stages of legal action against Mr Straw personally as well as the British government and the former MI6 head of counter terrorism, Sir Mark Allen. Asked whether Mr Straw would personally have to pay damages, his lawyer, Sapna Malik, said: "We are not ruling anything out at this stage." However, she added: "I would be surprised if that is where things ended up." Mr Straw is also facing the prospect of being questioned in police investigation into "alleged ill-treatment of detainees" in Libya. A spokesman for Mr Straw said he is unable to comment on the legal action because of the ongoing police investigation into the matter. However, the MP has previously strongly denied ever being complicit in any rendition or torture. Although the case happened under the previous Labour government, the Foreign Office is now under increasing pressure to publish details of what happened. A spokesman for the Prime Minister yesterday said they were "taking the allegations very seriously." The government position on torture is well known. We stand firmly against it," he said. Tony Blair, who was prime minister at the time, said this month he had no memory of the Belhadj case. Last year, Mr Belhadj became one of the rebels who helped topple Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's murderous Libyan regime with the assistance of British military forces. Documents discovered in Tripoli after the civil war revealed details of co-operation between the American, British and Libyan intelligence services.