Foreign Office used private jet for Cuba trip

Four Foreign Office officials were sent to Cuba on a private jet to check on a terror suspect - at taxpayers' expense.

The team spent tens of thousands of pounds, flying business class to Miami, catching an internal flight to Washington and then chartering the private aircraft to visit Guantanamo Bay.

They took the private option despite regular US military flights to the base.

The trip was arranged so that the group could examine alleged bomb plotter Binyam Mohamed before his return to Britain.

The 30-year-old, who had been declared too weak to fly after a hunger strike, was confirmed fit to travel by a doctor, civil servant and two other Foreign Office staff.

The London resident will be returned to the UK within weeks by air ambulance.