Former MI5 head slams treatment of terror suspects

New torture allegations surfaced today over the treatment of terror suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay.

Defence lawyers for four alleged al Qaeda men detained at the US naval base are set to claim they were coerced into false confessions.

The claim came as former MI5 chief Stella Rimington launched a stinging attack on the way prisoners were being denied basic rights.

"It cannot be right to keep people in complete isolation, denied human contact and denied any access to the courts for an interminable length of time," the former security service head told the Edinburgh literary festival.

"I find that very difficult to come to terms with really," she added.

Dame Stella's comments will add to the embarrassment of Tony Blair, who is under pressure to demand improvements at the base - where four Britons are still being held after two years without charge.

The conditions are expected to be condemned by party activists at the Labour conference next month.

The latest claims surround four inmates due to appear before US military tribunals next week, two of whom are alleged to have been Osama bin Laden's bodyguards.

Some 585 men captured in Afghanistan are at the base, and several former prisoners have said they were tortured there.

US military officials and interrogators deny any abuse.