A British minister said Thursday that the U.S. has landed two "extraordinary rendition" flights carrying terrorism suspects on British territory.

The British government had previously insisted there was no evidence to support allegations that U.S. planes had landed on British territory during rendition, the controversial process of transferring detainees to another country where they possibly face torture.

But Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband told MPs on Thursday that on two separate occasions in 2002 the U.S. landed rendition flights on the U.K.-dependent island of Diego Garcia, located in the Indian Ocean south of India.

"Contrary to earlier explicit assurances that Diego Garcia had not been used for rendition flights, recent U.S. investigations have now revealed two occasions, both in 2002, when this had, in fact, occurred," Miliband told parliament.

On both occasions, the U.S. plane carried a single detainee on board and stopped only to refuel at a U.S. facility on the island, Miliband said.

"The detainees did not leave the plane. And the U.S. government has assured us that no U.S. detainees have ever been held on Diego Garcia," Miliband said.

He apologized for previous statements made that rendition did not happen, saying that errors in earlier U.S. records searches meant the cases did not come to light.

Neither of the two detained men was a British resident or citizen, Miliband said. One is presently detained at Guantanamo Bay and the other has been released.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking in Brussels, said he had just been informed and "shared the disappointment that everybody has" about the stops.

"The important thing now is we put in place the best possible procedures to ensure that this will not happen again," he said.