Metropolitan Police officers subjected suspects to waterboarding, according to allegations at the centre of a major anti-corruption inquiry, The Times has learnt.
The torture claims are part of a wide-ranging investigation which also includes accusations that officers fabricated evidence and stole suspects’ property. It has already led to the abandonment of a drug trial and the suspension of several police officers. However, senior policing officials are most alarmed by the claim that officers in Enfield, North London, used the controversial CIA interrogation technique to simulate drowning. Scotland Yard is appointing a new borough commander in Enfield in a move that is being seen as an attempt by Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met Commissioner, to enforce a regime of “intrusive supervision.
The waterboarding claims will fuel the debate about police conduct that has raged in the wake of hundreds of public complaints of brutality at the anti-G20 protests in April.
The part of the inquiry focusing on alleged police brutality has been taken over by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It is examining the conduct of six officers connected to drug raids in November in which four men and a woman were arrested at addresses in Enfield and Tottenham. Police said they found a large amount of cannabis and the suspects were charged with importation of a Class C drug. The case was abandoned four months later when the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not have been in the public interest to proceed. It is understood that the trial, by revealing the torture claims, would have compromised the criminal investigation into the six officers.
The men are said to have pushed the suspects' heads repeatedly into buckets or bowls of water in a bid to force them to reveal the locations of drugs.
The accusations suggest they were simulating the notorious "waterboard" torture techniques employed against al Qaeda suspects by CIA staff.
The process involves hooding and strapping a suspect to a board and then tipping him head-first into a bath of water. The effect is to make the suspect believe he is drowning.
It comes as Scotland Yard is investigating similar allegations against the British Security Service MI5.
The incidents are said to have taken place at the homes of four young men arrested on suspicion of drug offences at properties in North London in November.
The officers, who include a detective sergeant, were originally suspended over allegations they stole property during the drugs raids.
The officers are members of the Enfield crime squad based at Edmonton police station.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the allegations after they were referred by Scotland Yard.
It is understood the allegations were made by a fellow officer.
The victims of the "waterboarding" are thought to be young, foreign nationals who did not make any complaints themselves.
These allegations, although not proved, are another embarrassment for new the new Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson.
He has had to put up with accusations of police brutality during the G20 demonstrations, the enforced resignation of counter-terror chief Bob Quick and the fall-out from the botched investigation into Parliamentary leaks.
The torture claims are part of a wide-ranging investigation which also includes accusations that officers fabricated evidence and stole suspects’ property. It has already led to the abandonment of a drug trial and the suspension of several police officers.
However, senior policing officials are most alarmed by the claim that officers in Enfield, North London, used the controversial CIA interrogation technique to simulate drowning. Scotland Yard is appointing a new borough commander in Enfield in a move that is being seen as an attempt by Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met Commissioner, to enforce a regime of “intrusive supervision”.
The waterboarding claims will fuel the debate about police conduct that has raged in the wake of hundreds of public complaints of brutality at the anti-G20 protests in April.
The part of the inquiry focusing on alleged police brutality has been taken over by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It is examining the conduct of six officers connected to drug raids in November in which four men and a woman were arrested at addresses in Enfield and Tottenham. Police said they found a large amount of cannabis and the suspects were charged with importation of a Class C drug. The case was abandoned four months later when the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not have been in the public interest to proceed. It is understood that the trial, by revealing the torture claims, would have compromised the criminal investigation into the six officers.
None of the officers under suspicion has been arrested, but the IPCC said last night: “This is an ongoing criminal investigation and as such all six officers will be criminally interviewed under caution.”
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Whilst the investigation is ongoing it is not appropriate to make assumptions. These are serious allegations that raise real concern. The Met does not tolerate conduct which falls below the standards that the public and the many outstanding Met officers and staff expect.”
Gordon Brown will seek to regain the political initiative today after a week of turmoil surrounding his leadership by addressing MPs on his plans to clean up Parliament.
The PM will update the House of Commons on progress towards the introduction of an independent regulator for Parliament in the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal.
He will also look at the wider debates on reform of the House of Lords, and the modernisation of voting methods for Westminster elections.
The moves are designed to show Mr Brown has a forward-looking agenda, and came as Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Labour had “settled” its leadership question.
In an attempt to draw a line under the failed efforts to oust Mr Brown, Mr Miliband said that even the “leading contender” to replace the PM, Home Secretary Alan Johnson, was backing him “to the hilt”.
Mr Miliband said that when news came through of James Purnell’s resignation from the Cabinet on Thursday night, he immediately assured Business Secretary Lord Mandelson that he would not follow his exit.
James Purnell: Why I Had To Resign
However, he dodged the question of whether he “flirted” with the idea of resignation, saying only: “Flirtation is dangerous for married men, I’m not going to get into that.”
Mr Brown yesterday chaired the first meeting of the National Democratic Renewal Council, set up to develop policies for reform of Parliament.
Today’s statement will spell out the Government’s position on issues ranging from a new code of conduct for MPs to strengthening the role of parliamentary select committees in scrutinising the executive.
Mr Brown is likely to unveil legislation to end the system of parliamentary self-regulation and create a statutory independent parliamentary standards authority, so that MPs will no longer decide their own pay and expenses.
On electoral reform, Downing Street played down reports that Mr Brown will propose replacing the first-past-the-post system with an alternative system similar to that used in the London mayoral election, where voters number candidates in order of preference.
A political source at No 10 said the Prime Minister was expected to say only that discussions would form part of the wider debate on renewal of British democracy, but any changes would have to be subject to a referendum.
He is not expected to put his weight behind any particular voting method or make firm proposals for electoral reform at this stage.
Top most hot celebrity singer Britney Spear call a Down-Under diva! The pop star announced her first concert tour of Australia in a blog post that went up on her official Web site Tuesday.
The Australian leg of The Circus Starring Britney Spears begins in Perth on Nov. 6 and continues through the month. Spears, 27, is taking the tour worldwide – it began earlier this year in her native Louisiana and she is currently performing eight dates at London's O2 Arena. She will continue in continental Europe through the end of July.
The first Guantanamo detainee to be brought to the US for trial has pleaded not guilty to involvement in two embassy blasts in East Africa in 1998.
Ahmed Ghailani appeared before a federal court in New York, after being transferred there earlier in the day.
Mr Ghailani, a Tanzanian, was detained in Pakistan in 2004 and taken to Guantanamo in late 2006.
The case is seen as a test of the Obama administration's pledge to close Guantanamo Bay by next January.
The US government wants to bring some of the other detainees to trial.
It also hopes to transfer some to other countries but negotiations have proved difficult, particularly over the issue of whether the US is willing to also receive detainees.
Congress has rejected an administration request for funding to close down Guantanamo, amid widespread opposition to bringing detainees on to the US mainland.
The BBC's Rob Watson says the case of Ahmed Ghailani is, in many ways, one of the least problematic for the administration.
He was first charged in 1998 after an extensive FBI investigation and there is therefore plenty of evidence against him.
Most of the other detainees have never been charged and would be hard to prosecute in regular criminal courts, our correspondent says.
Apology
"With his appearance in federal court today, Ahmed Ghailani is being held accountable for his alleged role in the bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the murder of 224 people," a statement by US Attorney General Eric Holder said.
The justice department said he faced 286 counts. They include conspiring with Osama Bin Laden and other members of al-Qaeda to kill Americans around the world, and murder charges for each of the victims of the embassy attacks of 7 August 1998.
One of the two lawyers appointed by the Pentagon to defend Mr Ghailani at Guantanamo Bay said the Tanzanian wanted to keep them as his counsel.
Marine Col Jeffrey Colwell told the Associated Press news agency that the authorities had not told yet him whether the team could defend Mr Ghailani in a civil court.
According to the transcript of a closed-door hearing in March 2007, Mr Ghailani admitted delivering explosives used to blow up the US embassy in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.
However, he told the hearing he did not know about the attack beforehand and apologised to the US government and the victims' families.
Investigators say he left Africa just before the bombings.
Mr Ghailani is thought to have been born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar in 1970 or 1974 - making him 39 or 35 years old. He is said to speak fluent English.
He is alleged to have risen through the ranks of al-Qaeda to become a bodyguard of Osama Bin Laden.
According to the US transcript, he admitted visiting an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan after the bombings. But he denied being a member of al-Qaeda.
Analysts described him as a very important figure, who was probably sent to east Africa at the time of the bombings by Osama Bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
It is suggested that Mr Ghailani fled to Afghanistan after being indicted in 1998. MichaelMoore.com Join our mailing list email: Election GuideFacts in FahrenheitMike's letterNews RoomMust ReadLinksMike's Books + FilmsLibrary + ResourcesHow can I help the soliders
June 8th, 2009 3:41 pm Recently Released Gitmo Detainee Talks to ABC News
Held Seven Years, Former Aid Worker Tells ABC News He Was Tortured
By Jake Tapper, Karen Travers, and Stephanie Z. Smith / ABC
For 7 1/2 years, Lakhdar Boumediene was known simply by a number: "10005."
These were the digits assigned to him when he arrived at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, swept up in a post-Sept. 11 dragnet and accused of plotting to blow up the U.S. and British Embassies in Sarajevo.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Boumediene said the interrogators at Gitmo never once asked him about this alleged plot, which he denied playing any part it.
"I'm a normal man," said Boumediene, who at the time of his arrest worked for the Red Crescent, providing help to orphans and others in need. "I'm not a terrorist."
The 43-year-old Algerian is now back with his wife and two daughters, a free man in France after a Republican judge found the evidence against Boumediene lacking. He is best known from the landmark Supreme Court case last year, Boumediene v. Bush, which said detainees have the right to challenge their detention in court.
That decision was a stunning rebuke of the Bush administration's policies on terror suspects. It set up a ruling by District Court Judge Richard Leon, a former counsel to Republicans in Congress appointed to the bench by Bush, that there was no credible evidence to keep Boumediene detained.
After what Boumediene described as a 71/2 year nightmare, he is now a free man.
Boumediene: "I don't think. I'm sure" about torture.
In 2001, Boumediene, his wife and two young daughters lived in Sarajevo, Bosnia. He worked for the Red Crescent Society, having done stints for the organization in Pakistan and Albania.
He was arrested by Bosnian police in October 2001 and charged with conspiring to blow up the U.S. and British Embassies. He called the charges false and ludicrous.
"They search my car, my office, nothing. Cell phone, nothing. Nothing. Nothing," he said.
The charges were dropped, and the Bosnian courts ordered him and five others freed. But under pressure from the Bush administration, the Bosnian government handed him over to the U.S. military.
On January 17, 2002, Boumediene's hands and feet were placed in shackles, and he was put on a military plane en route to Guantanamo Bay. It was a time of high anxiety, and the Bush administration was taking no chances.
Two weeks later, in his State of the Union address, President Bush touted the arrests in Bosnia to show early progress in the war on terror.
"Our soldiers, working with the Bosnian government, seized terrorists who were plotting to bomb our embassy," Bush said in his address. To this day, officials of the Bush administration have provided no credible evidence to back up that accusation.
Boumediene said the interrogations began within one week of his arrival at the facility in Cuba. But he thought that his cooperation, and trust in the United States, would serve him well and quicken his release.
"I thought America, the big country, they have CIA, FBI. Maybe one week, two weeks, they know I am innocent. I can go back to my home, to my home," he said.
But instead, Boumediene said he endured harsh treatment for more than seven years. He said he was kept awake for 16 days straight, and physically abused repeatedly.
Asked if he thought he was tortured, Boumediene was unequivocal.
"I don't think. I'm sure," he said.
Boumediene described being pulled up from under his arms while sitting in a chair with his legs shackled, stretching him. He said that he was forced to run with the camp's guards and if he could not keep up, he was dragged, bloody and bruised.
He described what he called the "games" the guards would play after he began a hunger strike, putting his food IV up his nose and poking the hypodermic needle in the wrong part of his arm.
"You think that's not torture? What's this? What can you call this? Torture or what?" he said, indicating the scars he bears from tight shackles. "I'm an animal? I'm not a human?"
Vice President Dick Cheney has been adamant in his defense of the Guantanamo detention center and the treatment of those held there.
Last week Cheney said, "The facility down there is a fine facility. These people are very well treated."
Oddly, Boumediene said no one at Gitmo ever asked him about the alleged plot to blow up the embassies in Sarajevo. They wanted to know what he knew about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, he recounted, which was nothing.
Boumediene said it was in his interest to lie to the interrogators, who would reward the detainees if they admitted guilt.
"If I tell my interrogator, I am from Al Qaeda, I saw Osama bin Laden, he was my boss, I help him, they will tell me, 'Oh you are a good man,'" he said. "But if I refuse ? I tell them I'm innocent, never was I terrorist, never never, they tell me. 'You are, you are not cooperating, I have to punch you.'"
After nearly four years locked up, Boumediene went on a hunger strike to protest his treatment.
He said he had believed that the United States honored religious diversity but believed guards at Guantanamo took actions to disrespect his religious beliefs. "They shaved my beard, because they don't respect me, because the guards they don't let me sleep. They don't let me read my Koran, they don't let me pray normal like people like Muslim outside the Guantanamo," he said.
Boumediene broke his hunger strike just twice over 2Ω years -- first, when he learned of Barack Obama's election win and next when Judge Leon ordered his release.
Despite the harsh treatment and uncertainty over his fate, Boumediene said he did not want to die because he had something to live for back home.
"Every day, I think about my wife and my daughters," he said.
Boumediene's personal effects were taken from him at Guantanamo, including his wedding ring. He now has a stack of letters, that his wife wrote to him that never arrived, a "return to sender" stamp on the envelope.
"Over there you lose all the hopes, you lose all hope," he said. "Any good news, they don't want you to be happy."
It took more than six years before Boumediene started to receive good news.
Boumediene v. Bush
Last summer, in a landmark war-time decision, the Supreme Court ruled that terror suspects held at Guantanamo have a constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court.
The decision was a harsh rebuke to the Bush administration's system for detaining and eventually trying terror suspects.
In a blistering dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said allowing federal judges, rather than military officials, to release terror suspects could have disastrous consequences.
"The game of bait-and-switch that today's opinion plays upon the nation's commander in chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed," he wrote.
Boumediene saw the 5-4 decision as his first victory against President Bush. His second came last November when Judge Leon ruled that the evidence against Boumediene was weak -- a "thin reed," he called it -- and ordered his release from Guantanamo.
The Bush administration never charged him with conspiring to blow up the embassies. Rather they said Boumediene and others had been planning to travel to Afghanistan to fight the United States.
To mark the occasion, Boumediene made himself a T-shirt that, like a soccer scoreboard, reads, "Boumediene: 2, Bush: 0."
Last month, in a tearful ceremony at an airport outside Paris, Boumediene was reunited with his family. His daughters, who were toddlers when he was detained, are 13 and 9 years old.
"I cried, just cried. Because I don't know my daughters," he said. "The younger, when I moved from Bosnia to Gitmo, she had 18 months, only 18 months. Now 9 years. Now she's big. Between 18 months, baby and 9 years, she walking, she's talking, she play, she's joking. It's a big difference."
Because of his hunger strike, Boumediene was not in good health when he arrived in France. He was treated at a military hospital and could not eat regular food at first.
After he was released from the hospital, he went with his wife and daughters to enjoy a first meal as a family in seven and a half year. On the menu? Pizza.
Sarkozy, Obama Work Out Detainee Plan
At the request of the White House, France agreed to take in Boumediene. Obama spoke with French President Nikolas Sarkozy on April 3 in Strasbourg France about the possibility of taking in prisoners released from Guantanamo.
"If then the President of the United States says, I'm going to close down Guantanamo, but I need my allies to take -- in this particular instance, this one person -- into our prisons, because this is going to help me, the U.S. President, to shut down this base -- if we are consistent, then we say, yes," Sarkozy said that day.
But neither the US nor French governments thought Boumediene needed to be imprisoned. He is a free man, trying to figure out what to do next.
Three others from his group are back in Bosnia. Two remain in Guantanamo.
Obama personally thanked Sarkozy on Saturday in France.
"I very much appreciate President Sarkozy's leadership on a whole range of issues," he said, including, "France's willingness to accept a Guantanamo detainee."
Boumediene: "I try to forget Guantanamo"
Boumediene said he understands, to a degree, how the attacks of Sept. 11 prompted strong reactions from the U.S. government.
"The first month, okay, no problem, the building, the 11 of September, the people, they are scared, but not 7 years. They can know whose innocent, who's not innocent, who's terrorist, who's not terrorist," he said.
"I give you 2 years, no problem, but not 7 years."
Boumediene stressed that he has no problem with the American people but could not hide his anger against Bush and other senior administration officials who he called "stupid."
"Myself, I try to forget Guantanamo, I can't forget the four or five people, they are stupid, they are very very stupid. I can't forget them," he said.
Boumediene and his attorney said they are considering a lawsuit against the U.S. government but more importantly, they say, he needs money to survive.
"I think that he needs to have an income paid to him for the rest of his life," said his attorney, Robert Kirsch of the law firm WilmerHale. "His family essentially has been thrown into poverty because of a mistake that we made seven-and-a-half years ago. What he needs is a chance to get back where he would have been."
As for Boumediene's allegations of abuse, the Pentagon said, "Any abuse of detainees is unacceptable. It is against our values, endangers our security and is not tolerated. All credible allegations of abuse are thoroughly investigated and, when substantiated, individuals are held accountable for their actions."
Sarkozy, Obama Work Out Detainee Plan
At the request of the White House, France agreed to take in Boumediene. Obama spoke with French President Nikolas Sarkozy on April 3 in Strasbourg France about the possibility of taking in prisoners released from Guantanamo.
“If then the President of the United States says, I’m going to close down Guantanamo, but I need my allies to take — in this particular instance, this one person — into our prisons, because this is going to help me, the U.S. President, to shut down this base — if we are consistent, then we say, yes,” Sarkozy said that day.
But neither the US nor French governments thought Boumediene needed to be imprisoned. He is a free man, trying to figure out what to do next.
Three others from his group are back in Bosnia. Two remain in Guantanamo.
Obama personally thanked Sarkozy on Saturday in France.
“I very much appreciate President Sarkozy’s leadership on a whole range of issues,” he said, including, “France’s willingness to accept a Guantanamo detainee.”
Boumediene: “I try to forget Guantanamo”
Boumediene said he understands, to a degree, how the attacks of Sept. 11 prompted strong reactions from the U.S. government.
“The first month, okay, no problem, the building, the 11 of September, the people, they are scared, but not 7 years. They can know whose innocent, who’s not innocent, who’s terrorist, who’s not terrorist,” he said.
“I give you 2 years, no problem, but not 7 years.”
Boumediene stressed that he has no problem with the American people but could not hide his anger against Bush and other senior administration officials who he called “stupid.”
“Myself, I try to forget Guantanamo, I can’t forget the four or five people, they are stupid, they are very very stupid. I can’t forget them,” he said.
Boumediene and his attorney said they are considering a lawsuit against the U.S. government but more importantly, they say, he needs money to survive.
“I think that he needs to have an income paid to him for the rest of his life,” said his attorney, Robert Kirsch of the law firm WilmerHale. “His family essentially has been thrown into poverty because of a mistake that we made seven-and-a-half years ago. What he needs is a chance to get back where he would have been.”
As for Boumediene’s allegations of abuse, the Pentagon said, “Any abuse of detainees is unacceptable. It is against our values, endangers our security and is not tolerated. All credible allegations of abuse are thoroughly investigated and, when substantiated, individuals are held accountable for their actions.”
LONDON — Demonstrators in Britain threw eggs Tuesday at the leader of a far-right political party, forcing him to abandon a news conference outside Parliament.
Police say two people have been taken to hospital after protesters threw eggs at BNP leader Nick Griffin. Unite Against Facism who organised the demonstration, says one of the group was hit when a car, driven by a BNP member, "drove at" two protesters.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said officers had received an allegation of common assault and were investigating reports of a road collision.
Mr Griffin told SkyNews it was he and his colleagues who had been subjected to "serious physical harm" by the protesters.
"I make no apologies for having a small group of security," he said.
"I would rather it was done with the police, but the police, no doubt on orders from the Home Office, stood on the other side of the street.
"We were all kicked and punched."If, in their haste, one of the mob got in front of our car, I'm afraid that is their problem, not ours."
Mr Griffin was forced to abandon a news conference outside Parliament after the disruption by UAF.
The newly-elected MEP for the North West of England, arrived on College Green in front of Parliament with fellow BNP MEP Andrew Brons just after 2.30pm.
Mr Griffin started by attacking articles from today's newspapers that criticised him and his party.
He had only been speaking for a few minutes when the protesters appeared, chanting and waving banners reading: "Stop the fascist BNP."
Eggs were thrown at Mr Griffin and his bodyguards bundled him away through the crowd. Mr Griffin told Sky News it had been "a desperate display of mob violence" and alleged the group had been funded by the Labour Party.
"They are entitled to demonstrate, but not to use violence or stop me from talking to constituents.
"If we are so evil and bad, expose us, don't shut us up using violence."
He added:"It is not ordinary people attacking us, it is an organisation funded by the Labour Party and backed by the entire political class."
Jon Cruddas, who is Labour MP for Dagenham where the BNP has gained support in the past, said the demonstration was not the way to fight the party.
"They want to pit themselves as victims, the only ones to challenge the Westminster bubble," he told Sky News.
"As soon as they come here, they have eggs or whatever thrown at them. This reinforces the image they have tried to set up to set up.
"We should be challenging them in terms of policy, ideas and their views about black people, rather than reinforcing the sense that they are victims and outsiders."
The BNP won two seats in last week's European elections - the first Parliamentary seats the party has ever held.
They took almost 10% of the vote in the Yorkshire and Humber region, up by 2% on the last election.
It achieved 16% of the vote in Barnsley, nearly 12% in Doncaster and 15% in Rotherham - all Labour strongholds.
The protesters, many of whom carried signs reading “Stop the Fascist BNP,” chased British National Party leader Nick Griffin from the area.
Griffin was elected to the European Parliament on Monday. The BNP won two seats in the Parliament for the first time.
The BNP does not accept nonwhite members and opposes immigration.
Interviewed by the BBC after the demonstration, Griffin said he was outraged by his inability to hold the news conference.
“It’s very, very wrong,” he said. “It’s a very sad day for British democracy.”
There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests.
Speaking to BBC News afterwards Mr Griffin alleged that the three main political parties were trying to prevent the BNP getting its message across by colluding with protesters who he said were mainly left-wing students.
"It's a very, very sad day for British democracy," he said.
"People should be entitled to hear what we have to say and to hear journalists question us robustly."
He described protesters as an "organised mob that's backed by all three main parties to stop us getting our message across to the public" and added: "It does not represent ordinary people."
He said he suffered only a "glancing splattering" with egg but a television cameraman was hit full in the face.
He says the BNP is not racist and says it won votes because it "spoke openly about the problem of immigration".
And he argued that the "political elite" were responsible for making "the indigenous British majority... second class citizens in every possible sphere".
Mr Griffin said the BNP plans to hold a press conference in Manchester tomorrow and he hopes that the police will take action against any violent protests.
On Monday Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said they were "sickened" by the BNP's win and Labour deputy Harriet Harman said it was "a terrible thing".
The number of people voting BNP across the UK as a whole went up slightly, from 808,201 to 943,598 in the European elections, but went down slightly in the two regions where it gained MEPs, with the party benefitting from a collapse in the Labour vote.
Chef Gordon Ramsay has apologised to an Australian female TV presenter over "inappropriate and offensive" comments he made about her.
The Hell's Kitchen star was reported to have called Tracy Grimshaw a lesbian and compared her with a pig in front of a 3,000-strong audience.
The incident happened at a live cooking show in Melbourne on Saturday.
Ramsay had denied using the word "lesbian" and had said the comments were intended as a joke.
But Ms Grimshaw used her show, A Current Affair, to lambast the chef as an "arrogant narcissist".
Now, a spokesman for the chef has said: "Gordon was giving during a live cooking demonstration at the Australian BBC Good Food Show last weekend in front of a large and boisterous audience.
"His comments relating to Tracy Grimshaw, who had interviewed Gordon the previous evening, were off the cuff and in response to heckling from the audience.
"His intention was to make a joke and indeed he did raise a big laugh at the time.
"However, with hindsight he realises that his comments were inappropriate and offensive to Tracy Grimshaw.
"And he has unreservedly apologised both to her and anybody else who may who may have been upset."
Ramsay apparently unleashed a string of insults aimed at the presenter during three appearances at the food show, likening her to Muppets character Miss Piggy.
"That's Grimshaw," he told the crowd. "Holy crap. She needs to see a Botox doctor."
During another appearance he said: "We were secret lovers for 20 years," but quickly added, "no, I didn't go there... I didn't stoop that low, for God's sake."
Grimshaw has vowed never to interview the TV chef again after his remarks at the expo.
She said: "I'm not going to pretend that his comments didn't hurt. I was absolutely miserable when I found out.
"He says it was a joke - well not to me or to anyone who truly cares about me.
"Truly, I wonder how many people would laugh if they were effectively described as 'an old ugly pig'. How is that funny, exactly?"
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd entered the row, saying Ramsay's remarks at the show were "offensive" and reflected "a new form of lowlife."
A mother has gone on trial acused of killing two new-born babies she kept secret from her husband then hiding their bodies in a freezer.
In a case that has gripped France, Veronique Courjault faces a life sentence if found guilty of murder.
Judges in Tours will have to decide if she knew what she was doing or was in denial over her pregnancies. She has already spent two and a half years on remand in prison and her family insist she is no danger to society.
In 2006 Courjault and her husband Jean-Louis were living in Seoul, South Korea, where he was working as an engineer and spent long periods away from home.
His wife and their two sons, aged nine and 11, had gone to France for a summer trip while Jean-Louis stayed behind.
He bought fish and went to put it in a downstairs freezer where he then discovered the bodies.
Horrified, he alerted the police and was later allowed to fly to France to be with his wife.
They held a press conference where they said they were baffled at how the babies had got there.
But weeks later DNA tests proved they were the parents and they were arrested.
Courjault confessed to police to hiding two pregnancies from her husband in 2002 and 2003, giving birth alone in the bathroom before strangling the babies and putting the bodies in the freezer.
She also confessed to killing another newborn when the couple still lived in France in 1999 and disposing of the body in the family fireplace.
Courjault told psychologists she had not felt the babies move in her womb during pregnancy.
"For me, it was never children, it was a part of me, a prolongation of myself that I killed," she said.
Jean-Louis Courjault was cleared of any involvement in a trial earlier this year.
He later said: "Society has to admit that not all pregnancies are happy. My wife certainly has a problem of a psychological order."
In a case that has gripped France, Veronique Courjault faces a life sentence if found guilty of murder.
Judges in Tours will have to decide if she knew what she was doing or was in denial over her pregnancies.
She has already spent two and a half years on remand in prison and her family insist she is no danger to society.
In 2006 Courjault and her husband Jean-Louis were living in Seoul, South Korea, where he was working as an engineer and spent long periods away from home. His wife and their two sons, aged nine and 11, had gone to France for a summer trip while Jean-Louis stayed behind.
He bought fish and went to put it in a downstairs freezer where he then discovered the bodies. Horrified, he alerted the police and was later allowed to fly to France to be with his wife.
They held a press conference where they said they were baffled at how the babies had got there. But weeks later DNA tests proved they were the parents and they were arrested.
Courjault confessed to police to hiding two pregnancies from her husband in 2002 and 2003, giving birth alone in the bathroom before strangling the babies and putting the bodies in the freezer.
She also confessed to killing another newborn when the couple still lived in France in 1999 and disposing of the body in the family fireplace.
Courjault told psychologists she had not felt the babies move in her womb during pregnancy. "For me, it was never children, it was a part of me, a prolongation of myself that I killed," she said.
Jean-Louis Courjault was cleared of any involvement in a trial earlier this year. He later said: "Society has to admit that not all pregnancies are happy. My wife certainly has a problem of a psychological order."
England fans will get to see their team play Andorra despite planned strikes on the London Underground, the Football Association has said.
Fears over the safety of moving 70,000 fans to and away from the stadium had raised the possibility the England squad would be forced to play behind closed doors.
But after a crisis meeting with the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and Brent Council it has been decided fans will be permitted to attend tomorrow's match. Speaking to Sky Sports, chief executive of the Football Association Ian Watmore said the turnstiles will now be opening at 5.45pm and advised supporters to travel to the game as early as possible.
A 48-hour strike by thousands of London Underground workers has begun after last-minute talks to try to resolve the row broke down.
Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union walked out at the start of a stoppage which is expected to cause travel chaos across the capital.
The union believes the entire network to come to a halt, causing huge problems for millions of commuters and visitors and costing businesses tens of millions of pounds.
Leaders of the union met London Underground (LU) managers at the offices of the conciliation service Acas all day.
But they failed to find a breakthrough in time to stop the strike going ahead.
The dispute is over pay, jobs and disciplinary issues, including the sacking of two drivers.
The union said the talks broke down just a few minutes before the strike started and accused LU of "pulling the rug" from a proposed deal aimed at settling the dispute.
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "The strike goes ahead and we expect it to be solidly supported."
Transport for London urged people to check before they travel, to stagger their journeys and to consider alternative ways of getting to work such as walking and cycling.
Contingency plans have been put in place, including extra buses, taxi-sharing at major rail stations and free river shuttle services.
Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said: "We regret the disruption the strike will cause to passengers as the impact on Tube services is likely to be significant.
"However, the mayor and TfL have prepared plans to keep London moving and thousands of TfL staff will be on hand across the city to help our passengers.
"A massive effort is being made, including boosting bus and river services, providing escorted commuter cycle rides and more central London cycle parking and distribution of thousands of walking maps at rail and Tube stations.
"We urge everyone travelling in and around London during the strike to check before you travel and to consider the wide range of alternative travel options."
The CBI said the strike was damaging for business, would cause widespread inconvenience and hurt London's reputation.
Deputy director general John Cridland said: "It is regrettable that a small minority of people are prepared to inflict this kind of disruption on others at such a difficult time."
No extra transport is being put on and overground trains will not stop at Wembley.
There will be no park-and-ride facilities and Mr Watmore has warned car parking at the ground is severely restricted.
He also said supporters should make their own arrangements to get home rather than relying on public transport for the journey home.
Millions of commuters and visitors to London are also facing travel chaos since talks aimed at averting a 48-hour strike by Tube workers broke down.
Thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will now walk out from 7pm today until 7pm on Thursday, bringing the network to a standstill.
The announcement was made by the union after marathon, 10-hour talks failed to produce a breakthrough to a bitter dispute over jobs and pay.
London mayor Boris Johnson has put in place a series of contingency plans aimed at helping commuters get to work, including extra buses, taxi-sharing and schemes to lead cyclists across the capital.
But the union predicted travel chaos as a result of the industrial action.
General secretary Bob Crow said the union had made every effort during the talks to reach a deal with London Underground over job losses and a pay deal.
He said: "Not only could the management side not reach an agreement on the kind of deal needed to end this dispute, they also found it difficult to stick to existing agreements on redundancies.
"The strike will now go ahead and we expect it to be solidly supported."
The union balloted up to 10,000 of its members, including drivers, station staff and maintenance workers.
London Underground tabled an improved pay offer during talks last Friday and had urged the union to call off the strike, which will cause huge disruption across the capital.
A bomb exploded outside a luxury hotel in a major city in northwest Pakistan Tuesday, killing at least five people, according to a government official.
The blast went off near the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar.
Gunmen stormed the hotel just Tuesday night before "a big bomb went off," said police official Liaqat Ali.
At least five people were killed and 25 were wounded, said Sahibzada Anis, a top government official in Peshawar.
Pakistan's Express Television also reported at least five deaths, but said 35 people were injured.
Police official Liaqat Ali said gunmen stormed into the Pearl Continental Hotel in the north-western city just before "a big bomb went off" and sparked a major fire.
Officials are trying to establish whether a device had been planted or it was a suicide attack.
Pakistani television channels quoted witnesses as saying it was a gun and bomb attack.PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Officials says a huge bomb has exploded at a luxury hotel in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least five people and wounding 25 others.
Police official Liaqat Ali says gunmen stormed into the Pearl Continental Hotel in the northwestern city on Tuesday night just before “a big bomb went off.”
Sahibzada Anis, a top government official in Peshawar, says at least five people were killed and 25 wounded.
The blast is the latest in a string of attacks in Pakistani cities in recent weeks that officials say are revenge for a military offensive against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley.
An explosion has killed five people and injured at least 25 at a luxury hotel in the north-west Pakistani city of Peshawar, officials say.
Police named the hotel as the five-star Pearl Continental, and an unconfirmed report suggests that foreign guests are among those hurt.
Peshawar is capital of Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province.
A series of bombs have hit cities including Peshawar since a government crackdown on Taliban militants.
One report said the hotel had been subjected to a gun and bomb attack.
Pearl Continental's website describes its hotel in Peshawar as "overlooking the famous Peshawar golf course and the historic Bala Hisar Fort".
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TV reports said the hotel had been subjected to a gun and bomb attack.
A government investigator, Sahibzada Anees, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying officials were trying to establish whether a device had been planted or it was a suicide attack.
Pearl Continental's website describes its hotel in Peshawar as "overlooking the famous Peshawar golf course and the historic Bala Hisar Fort".
Government forces launched an offensive earlier this year to crush a Taliban-led uprising in the Swat valley aimed at enforcing Sharia law.
Taliban leaders have promised to launch revenge attacks on major Pakistani cities and claimed a bombing in Lahore last month which left at least 28 people dead.
A Pablo Picasso sketchbook has been stolen from the museum in Paris that is named after him, police have said.
The collection of drawings by the legendary Spanish artist is worth about £9m. The sketchbook was taken from the Picasso Museum in the centre of the French capital. Officials discovered the theft this morning, police said.
PARIS -- A notebook of 33 pencil drawings by Pablo Picasso has been stolen from the Paris museum that bears the painter's name, authorities said Tuesday.
The book is reportedly worth several million euros (dollars).
The theft took place between Monday and Tuesday morning at the Picasso Museum, France's Culture Ministry said. It was discovered Tuesday morning, a police official said anonymously, as police are not authorized to discuss cases publicly.
The stolen sketchbook, shiny red with the word "Album" inscribed in gold on the front, dated from 1917 to 1924, the Culture Ministry statement said. It measured 6.3 inches by 9.5 inches (16 by 24 centimeters) the ministry said.
The Picasso Museum, in Paris' old Marais neighborhood, is dedicated to the Spanish-born painter, a founder of the Cubist movement and leading 20th century artist.
The exact time and how the theft was carried out are not yet known but the sketchbook has been taken from the Picasso Museum. The sketchbook is valued at more than £10million.
The BRB which is a special unit of the interior ministry is in charge of the investigation.
It is likely the theft was carried out between Monday evening and noon on Tuesday.
The initial investigation shows there was no sign of a break-in. This suggests professional art criminals could well be behind the crime.
Alarms in the fortified museum were somehow switched off, and no windows were smashed or doors broken open.
Apparently, the sketchbook, which was once the property of one of the world's best known artists, was kept in an unlocked display case on the first floor.
The museum's management are not yet commenting.have so far refused to comment on the theft.
The Picasso museum is set to close this summer for at least two years for renovation work put at 20m euros.
The museum contains more than 250 paintings and 1,500 drawings by the Spanish artist. t has more than 250 paintings, 160 sculptures and 1,500 drawings by Picasso in a former mansion in the fashionable Marais district.
He is a founder of the Cubist movement and a leading 20th century artist.
Two Picasso paintings worth about £43m were taken from the Paris home of Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the artist's granddaughter, in February 2007.
And four Picasso works stolen from a museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil in June 2008 were recovered undamaged a few weeks later.
Metropolitan Police officers subjected suspects to waterboarding, according to allegations at the centre of a major anti-corruption inquiry, The Times has learnt.
