What I found on the secretive tropical island they don't want you to see
Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean, is a paradise of lush vegetation and white-sand beaches, surrounded by crystal blue waters.
But this is no tourist destination. It is strictly out of bounds to most civilians - the site of a highly secretive UK-US military base shrouded for decades in rumour and mystery.
The island, which is administered from London, is at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute between the UK and Mauritius, and negotiations have ramped up in recent weeks.
“It’s the enemy,” a private security officer jokes as I return to my room one night on Diego Garcia, my name highlighted in yellow on a list he is holding.
We wanted to cover a historic court case being held over the treatment of Sri Lankan Tamils, the first people ever to file asylum claims on the island, who have been stranded there for three years. Complex legal battles have been waged over their fate and a judgement will soon determine if they have been unlawfully detained.
Diego Garcia, which is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the nearest landmass, features on lists of the world's most remote islands. There are no commercial flights and getting there by sea is no easier - permits for boats are only granted for the archipelago’s outer islands and to allow safe passage through the Indian Ocean.
