One assumes there was no onboard snack service

After his party's previous government steadfastly denied that Britain had anything to do with rendition- the practice of doing to terrorism suspects what US law- when acknowledged- prohibits via handing them over to foreigners, now it turns out the UK had a hand after all:

'Britain acknowledged today for the first time that US planes on "extraordinary rendition" flights stopped on British soil twice.

'The admission came from the foreign secretary, David Miliband, who apologised to MPs for incorrect information given by his predecessor, Jack Straw, and the former prime minister Tony Blair.

'Miliband said the government had recently received information from Washington that two flights - one to Guantánamo Bay and one to Morocco – had stopped over at Diego Garcia, the British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean.

'Each plane carried a single terror suspect and neither of the men had been tortured, the CIA said.'

The CIA's director says the US government didn't know either and took big credit for finding out what itself had been up to nearly six years later.

Guardian columnist, referring to reports that the US secretary of state was the one who told the Brits of the refueling tops, wonders- a bit over the top-ly:

'Ms Rice's decision to come clean on the Diego Garcia flights also suggests huge problems for the United States. Laudable and courageous as her decision to go public is, one wonders why she has done it now. It could be construed as an opening gambit in a plea bargain for an agreement of oblivion or immunity from investigation, and possible prosecution, on leaving office.'