An ex-minister is to take charge of negotiating deals to allow terror suspects to be deported to nations with poor human rights records.
Lady Symons was a Foreign Office minister before the election
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean will be Tony Blair's special representative in talks for "memoranda of understanding".
The agreements are aimed at allowing deportations without breaking human rights laws, which prevent deporting suspects if they could face torture.
Critics say "pieces of paper" are not a guarantee against human rights abuses.
They say they will challenge the legality of the agreements if they are used to justify deportations.
Lady Symons was previously a Foreign Office minister whose responsibilities included the Middle East. She resigned from government when the election was called.
Memoranda of understanding have already been signed with Libya and Jordan.
The UK is still seeking agreements with other countries, which are known to include Algeria.
Others are thought to include Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.