LONDON: A group of Pakistani men detained in Greece after the London bombings on Tuesday told of alleged beatings, threats and psychological torture they had suffered.

Supporters of the detained men allege that agents from MI6, Britain's overseas intelligence service, were present at the interrogations of some of the men, believed to have been conducted by Greek counterterrorism officials.

British diplomatic and intelligence sources strongly denied suggestions that UK officials were present at the interrogations.

"Allegations that there was a UK presence are false," said a British official. "There was no UK official present at any of the interviews."

The Pakistanis say they were beaten, blindfolded, kept in solitary confinement and that the Greek agents threatened to kill them if they told of their ordeal.

Greek counterterrorism officials held up to 28 Pakistani men as they chased down leads relating to the July 7 attacks on three subway trains and a bus in London which killed 52 people. Three of those detained spoke at length publicly for the first time yesterday and said they were seized at home after dark.

Mohammad Munir, 35, said he was repeatedly beaten and now lives in fear. He claims 10 Greek agents came into his house, and that he was taken into a room where he was repeatedly punched: "They handcuffed me, made me face the wall and started to beat me. They hit me over the body and I fell down, hit the table and cut my lip."

The claim was backed by Azhar Mehmood, 35, also in the flat when the agents arrived: "I saw Munir with blood dripping from his mouth and handcuffed." Munir said the traditional Pakistani shirt he was wearing was pulled over his head so he could not see, and he was driven away to be interrogated more.

He was asked where his mobile phone was, and his interrogators shouted that they could not believe his claims he did not own one. He said that while in custody he suffered two more beatings, and was shown pictures of suspects for the London attacks whom he did not recognise.

Munir said he denied any knowledge of the London bombings or any support for terrorism and after six days was released with a chilling threat: "When they let us go they told us not to talk. They said that if we did they would slit our throats." The arrests in Athens happened on July 16 and 17 and Munir explained why it had taken him so long to come forward: "I was very frightened. I could not even talk to my father about this."

A Greek magazine has named a British intelligence officer it claims was present at some of the interrogations.

Azhar Mehmood said he saw one person present during his two days of interrogations who was not Greek and who spoke English with an English accent. A second detainee also described the same man.

Source: China Daily