An inquiry into allegations of British complicity in torture is to be scrapped following the start of a fresh criminal probe into claims of ill-treatment in Libya, the government said Wednesday.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said there "now appears no prospect of the Gibson Inquiry being able to start in the foreseeable future".

Clarke told parliament the current inquiry would be halted, but the government was still committed to holding "an independent, judge-led inquiry once all police investigations have concluded".

Police said last week they would probe claims that British agents were involved in the rendition and ill-treatment of two opponents of the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

London's Metropolitan Police said the allegations concerning Abdelhakim Belhaj, who is now Tripoli's military commander, and another man were "so serious" they warranted a criminal investigation.

Belhaj claimed he was flown back to Libya, where he was tortured.