U.S. expresses "regret" to UK on rendition info

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it had expressed regret to Britain over inaccurate information Washington gave about U.S. planes carrying terrorism suspects that refuelled on a British Indian Ocean island.

"There was initially inaccurate information provided to the British government that we generated at the end of last year," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. "We regret that there was an error in providing initially that inaccurate information to a good friend and ally," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Wednesday to express U.S. regret over the incident, he told reporters.

Miliband told Britain's parliament earlier on Thursday that contrary to earlier U.S. assurances, two planes used for "rendition flights" in 2002 had refuelled at a U.S. base on the British island of Diego Garcia.

The British government had previously insisted it was not aware of any British territory being used to transfer terrorism suspects outside normal extradition procedures since U.S. President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming, Editing by Sandra Maler)