Sunday 18 September 2011

Evidence grows of Blair's links with Gaddafi

[This is the headline over a report in today's edition of The Independent on Sunday. It reads in part:]

Tony Blair's shadowy links with Muammar Gaddafi were thrust into the spotlight again last night after it emerged that he met the former Libyan dictator twice for secret talks in the run-up to the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

A collection of documents found in Tripoli have revealed that Mr Blair was flown to Libya twice on one of Colonel Gaddafi's private jets after he left office in the UK, according to a report in The Sunday Telegraph. In the letters and emails, Mr Blair's private office repeatedly refers to Gaddafi as "The Leader".

The meetings, in 2008 and 2009, came at a time when Libya was threatening to cut all business links with the UK if Abdelbaset al-Megrahi stayed in a British jail.

The correspondence, between Mr Blair's office, the British ambassador in Tripoli and the Libyan ambassador in London, raise possible conflicts of interest regarding his roles as Middle East peace envoy, philanthropist and consultant. 

The former prime minister, who brought a US billionaire to one of the meetings, makes no reference to the trips on any of his websites. 

Mr Blair's office last night denied that the visits were business-related. A spokesman confirmed that Megrahi's situation was raised at the meetings, but insisted that Mr Blair always told the Libyans that the prisoner's status was a matter for the Scottish Executive. Megrahi, who has cancer, was eventually released on health grounds in August 2009 after doctors judged that he had only three months to live. 

But Pam Dix, whose brother died in the Lockerbie bombing, said yesterday: "These meetings ... are disturbing, and details of what was discussed should now be made public. I am astonished Tony Blair continued to have meetings like this out of office." 

The meetings took place at a time of intense negotiations with Colonel Gaddafi's regime over Megrahi's release (...)

A spokesman for Tony Blair said last night: "Tony Blair has never had any role, either formal or informal, paid or unpaid, with the Libyan Investment Authority or the Government of Libya and he has no commercial relationship with any Libyan company or entity.

"The subject of the conversations during Mr Blair's occasional visits was primarily Africa, as Libya was for a time head of the African Union; but also the Middle East and how Libya should reform and open up. At the time, governments around the world were engaging with Libya."

[It appears that the story on The Independent website is in fact a re-hash of a longer report that appeared on the website of The Telegraph on Saturday evening.  The original report can be read here. It contains the following paragraph:]

Mr Blair has always denied involvement in Megrahi's release – saying it was a decision taken by the Scottish Executive alone. Last night a spokesman admitted Megrahi's release was raised by Gaddafi.

[The report in The Scotsman of Monday, 19 September contains the following:]

Yesterday justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, who made the decision to release Megrahi, insisted that the meetings played no part in his decision.

He said: "Al-Megrahi is dying of terminal prostate cancer, and was released on compassionate grounds. These reports underline the extent of Labour's hypocrisy over al-Megrahi. It was Tony Blair who rode roughshod over Scotland by secretly negotiating a prisoner transfer agreement with Col Gaddafi in the first place, for reasons of trade and politics.

"As all the documentation and inquiries demonstrate, only the SNP government played with a straight bat on this matter."


[A similar but longer report in Monday's edition of The Herald can be read here.]

6 comments:

  1. As a reminder, you read Tony Blair's Deal in the desert on URL:

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6804645.ece

    Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Switzerland. URL: www.lockerbie.ch

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  2. As a second reminder, you read URL:

    http://extremeprejudiceusa.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/key-lockerbie-witness-admits-perjury/

    by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Switzerland. URL: www.lockerbie.ch

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  3. URL CORRECTION:

    www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/
    uk/scotland/article6804645.ece

    ReplyDelete
  4. MISSION LOCKERBIE, 2011, doc. nr.7023.rtf. (google translation, german/english):

    At a meeting in the house of Rothschild (in Klosters) at the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos) in January 2009, gave me, Seif El Islam, to understand that he and his group, the positive content of the SCCR-Commission ---for Abdelbaset Al Megrahi and Libya --- were informed of the highest English authority, the evidence details of a Miscarriage of Justice In 6 points ).
    "Unfortunately, she have to keep the promise, that not the exculpatory content go to the media".
    It is assumed that Tony Blair and his "Backers" with the "release-Deal" gone on a "safe way" and if necessary to the Miscarriage of Justice could be supported in the 6 Points ...

    +++
    Bei einem Meeting im Hause Rothschild (Klosters) während des World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos) im Januar 2009, gab mir Seif El Islam zu verstehen, dass er und seine Gruppe, über den positiven Inhalt der "SCCR-Commission"--- für Abdelbaset Al Megrahi und Libyen --- von höchster englischer Stelle über die Beweis-Details des Fehlurteils in 6 Punkten informiert wurden.
    "Leider müssten Sie das Versprechen einhalten, nicht mit dem entlastenden Inhalt an die Medien zugehen".
    Es ist davon auszugehen, dass Tony Blair und seine "Hintermänner" mit dem "Freilassungs-Deal" auf "Sicher" gegangen sind und sich notfalls auf das Miscarriage of Justice in 6 Punkten abstützen konnten..

    by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Switzerland. URL: www.lockerbie.ch

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  5. The Blair-Lockerbie connection is probably the most featured non-story I know about.

    "Blair discussed oil-deals and Megrahi with Gadaffi"

    I look forward to more earth-shattering headlines in coming news.

    "Top priorities found to be most likely topic in discussions"
    "Megrahi's release: decisions now believed to politically influenced"
    "Editors filter publication of news based on the interests of the newspaper"
    "Science: Bees' choice of route found to be affected by smell of flowers"

    - - -

    "But Pam Dix, whose brother died in the Lockerbie bombing, said yesterday: "These meetings ... are disturbing, and details of what was discussed should now be made public. I am astonished Tony Blair continued to have meetings like this out of office." "

    Under what legislation could an out-of-office-Blair's conversation with Gadaffi be made public?
    Why is she "astonished" over the meetings? What kind of life would she expect a Blair to live? Grow tomatoes in his garden?

    - - -

    MEBO:
    > http://extremeprejudiceusa.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/key-lockerbie-witness-admits-perjury/

    In your shoes I'd do Lumpert (and yourself) the favor of forgetting about a man of who we can only be certain of one thing: He is a liar.
    Depending on _when_ he lies he may be a perjurer too, in a trial where a man stands accused of mass murder.
    His involvement in your business of delivering long-term bomb timers to anyone willing to buy probably fits his character perfectly.

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  6. Why the obsession with Blair and the "deal in the desert?"
    In January 2008, Libyan officials met top American politicians and officials from companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Occidental Petroleum with a view to making lucrative trade deals.It was not felt necessary to keep this secret nor cover it up in any way.So why did we hear nothing from Pam Dix and the other "relatives' families" at the time?
    Then, in September 2008, Condaleeza Rice travelled to Libya to meet Ghaddafi personally. The story goes that he refused to shake hands with her because she is a woman. Some might have been put off by this apparent slight but Condy's eye remained firmly on the ball. “We are working on a trade and investment agreement, a framework, which will allow the improvement of the climate for investment, which I know very many American firms wish to do,” she gushed.
    By August 2009 the Republicans were out and the Democrats were in. So, change of policy? Em, nope. When filthy lucre is involved there are some subject which are too important to become a party political football and Obama sent his defeated rival John McCain off to Libya at the head of a delegation which include senators Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman. McCain noted how “bilateral ties have taken a remarkable and positive turn in recent years.” And still nothing from "the relatives".
    It seems that the Lockerbie Mastermind had been forgiven by everyone in America.
    So what of his minion lying dying in Greenock Jail? Surely he could just be released, quietly. Who would care? Most Scots who even gave him a thought believed he was innocent anyway and the UK government was trying to do its own deals with Ghaddafi ("he may have supplied these IRA chappies with semtex but, come on, time to forgive and forget and move on, what?"). The "American families" don't care or they'd have complained about their own government before now. So, c'mon Kenny,just let him go, quietly, get him off our hands, eh? No loose ends. No martyr dying in a Scottish jail. The meat-wagon's in the prison yard, the planes on the tarmac, who's even going to notice......?

    ReplyDelete