Same old, same old

Question S4W-06500: Christine Grahame, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 28/03/2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-06179 by Kenny MacAskill on 27 March 2012, whether  the findings of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission are matters that have caused or are capable of causing public concern within the meaning of section 1 of the Inquiries Act 2005.

Answered by Kenny MacAskill (18/04/2012):

The Statement of Reasons produced by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in the Al-Megrahi case provides details of the grounds on which the commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal.

The only appropriate forum for the determination of Mr Al-Megrahi’s guilt or innocence is the Appeal Court. The court would have had the opportunity to consider the material contained in the Statement of Reasons had Mr Al-Megrahi not withdrawn his appeal. It remains open to Mr Al-Megrahi or to other interested parties to ask the commission to refer the case to the Appeal Court again.

Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18/04/2012

Scottish Parliament debate on SCCRC disclosure Bill

The official report (Hansard) of the Stage 1 debate on the Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill that took place yesterday in the Scottish Parliament has been published. It can be read here. Part 2 of the Bill relating to disclosure by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission of its Statement of Reasons in cases where the appeal that it allowed has been abandoned has, of course, now been rendered largely pointless by the publication on the heraldscotland.com website of the Statement of Reasons in the Megrahi case (though not the report's voluminous appendices).

The debate can be viewed here on the BBC Democracy Live website.

Search for justice

[This is the headline over a section in the Embassy Row column on the website of The Washington Times.  It reads in part:]

Relatives of the victims of a Libyan bomb attack on an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, more than 20 years ago told Libya’s ambassador Thursday that they want more answers, not more money, in their “search for justice.”

Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of Pan Am 103, tried to reassure Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali* that the families of the 270 victims of the bombing support British authorities in their efforts to open a fresh investigation with the help of the new government in Libya.

“I want to assure you that the families of the US victims of this bombing have no intention of seeking monetary compensation. Our efforts were never about money but instead were a search for justice,” Mr Duggan wrote in a letter to the ambassador.

British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt this week informed Parliament of “apprehension in some parts” of Libya’s National Transitional Council that London is after more compensation.

He insisted that the British effort is “about finding out the truth of the matter.”

Only one man was convicted of the bombing, but authorities always have suspected more Libyans were involved. (…)

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed last year in the uprising that toppled his regime, never admitted responsibility for the bombing. However, he paid relatives of the victims $2.7 billion in restitution.

*[Here, from an article in the Caledonian Mercury, are some of Ambassador Aujali’s previous statements about Libya and Lockerbie:]

In 2007, Aujali is in Washington, telling The Washington Diplomat that Libya’s decision to accept responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing was a “calculated economic decision” because Western sanctions were crippling the country to the tune of $5 billion a year by depriving Libya of technology. (...)

In 2009 Aujali wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the fact that “a large and growing body of evidence that casts serious doubt on [Abdel Baset al-Megrahi’s] conviction and suggests that an innocent man may have been languishing in prison” had been widely under-reported by the US media. “

“The Scottish flags they flew alongside Libyan flags were not an endorsement of the terrible deeds of which [the then recently released Megrahi] was accused,” he said. “They were a powerful sign of solidarity between two very different nations that nonetheless share the value of compassion”.

[UK relatives of Lockerbie victims are also continuing their search for truth and justice, but along lines very different from Mr Duggan’s.]

New Lockerbie play to be premiered in Falkirk

[The following is taken from the What’s On Scotland website:]

The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie killed 270 people and was the worst terrorist atrocity in the UK. Now, for the first time, the appalling tragedy is being brought to the stage in a new play presented by Falkirk’s Tryst Theatre. The Lockerbie Bomber by Kenneth Ross dramatises the search for the truth about the 1988 outrage. Tryst will perform the premiere of the harrowing and hard-hitting play in Falkirk on May 26. The six parts are taken by Jim Allan, Alan Clark, Carol Clark, Rhona Law, Craig Murray and Brian Paterson. Director Alan Clark said: “The play is set in the present day and looks at the Lockerbie bombing from three different perspectives – the victims’ families, journalists investigating the case, and the UK and US security services engaged in cynically covering up what happened.” The play, which explores this veil of secrecy, is described as “docu-drama faction” and links Grangemouth, Greenock, Glasgow and Guantanamo Bay in the gritty and fast-moving 70-minute piece. “The writer says it’s a mix of fact and fiction plus conspiracy theories and some interesting speculation,” explained Alan. He added: “We were attracted to it because it’s new, challenging, contemporary theatre and the issues surrounding the bombing are currently front-page news all round the world. Twenty-four years on, Lockerbie still looms large over Scotland and there are still unanswered questions over what happened that night and who is ultimately responsible for two hundred and seventy deaths. As one of the characters says: 'A few people, high up in the US and UK Governments, know exactly what happened, but they’re never going to tell us.'" The premiere of The Lockerbie Bomber takes place on Saturday May 26 at 8pm in Falkirk Town Hall. Tickets, £7 and £5 (concessions) are available from the Tryst Theatre Box Office on 01324 715886, from the Steeple Box Office on 01324 506850, from club members or at the door on the night.

Libya fears 'new compensation bid' in Lockerbie investigation

[This is the headline over a report from The Press Association news agency published today on the website of The Independent.  It reads in part:]

Libyan authorities fear compensation is the motive behind fresh investigations into the Lockerbie bombing, MPs were told today.

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said there were "apprehensions" in "some quarters" that hopes of re-opening existing settlements were fuelling inquiries.

He told the Commons foreign affairs committee the UK was continuing to "make the case" for Scottish police to have access to the state but there are concerns that must be "got over".

Mr Burt intends to revisit to Libya soon and insisted the "legacy issues" remained a "matter of high priority" for the UK.

They also include the case of WPc Fletcher, who was shot dead while policing a protest outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.

"There's some concern in some quarters, not in relation to WPc Fletcher but in relation to other cases that there is a matter of re-opening compensation and we are busy seeking to dissuade people that isn't the case."

Confirming he was talking about the Lockerbie bombing, Mr Burt added: "I don't believe there are institutional barriers to that but there are other apprehensions to get over.

"We continue to make the case that the Dumfries and Galloway police must have access and must be able to get on with that investigation."

He added: "There is an apprehension in some parts of the Libyan structure that this is about re-opening compensation that they believe was dealt with in the past where as we are keen to make the case supporting those who are conducting the investigation that it is about finding out the truth of the matter."

In February a formal submission was sent to the Libyan Government requesting access to the country for police and prosecutors who want to examine information and documents relating to lines of inquiry.

The Libyan National Transitional Council has previously confirmed to the UK Government that it will assist the ongoing criminal investigation. (…)

"The capacity of the Libyan authorities at the moment is understandably limited because of the circumstances in which they are operating."

He added: "Their commitment has been genuine. They do know from us how important these issues are.”

Vincent Cannistraro, Jack Straw and a new car

[This is the headline over an item posted today on the Lockerbie Truth website of Dr Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph.  It reads as follows:]

Today's news that Libya's military commander and former opponent of Gaddafi is taking legal action against Jack Straw comes to us as no surprise. 

Abdel Hakim Belhadj claims that CIA agents took him from Thailand to Gaddafi-led Libya, via UK-controlled Diego Garcia. His lawyers have served papers on Mr Straw after a Sunday Times report claims that Straw approved or allowed the rendition to take place. 

From approximately 2000 to 2008 Libyan intelligence services were effectively an out-sourced section of the CIA.  Tripoli was cooperating with both the CIA and MI6 in the rendition of Libyan dissidents, occasionally their wives, children, and other suspects to Libyan prisons for interrogation, torture, and sometimes death. In addition MI6 were monitoring the activities of active Libyan dissidents living in the UK and providing reports to at that time head of intelligence Moussa Koussa.¹

In 1995, as part of our research into the background to the Lockerbie tragedy, we discovered from files published by the US National Archive that the foundation for the current US network of rendition was established as far back as 1986, revealed in an email written by Vincent Cannistraro to his chief Admiral John Poindexter.  

We should recall that Cannistraro was, in December 1988, placed in charge of the CIA team investigating the Lockerbie bombing.  It was on his watch that a fragment of a timer circuit board mysteriously appeared on a hillside near to Lockerbie, and that fragment formed a central ground for the conviction of Abdel Baset Ali Al-Megrahi.

It has now been proved by independent scientific testing at two separate laboratories that the Lockerbie fragment could not have come from a batch of timer boards sold to Libya by Swiss company MEBO. [RB: See John Ashton, Megrahi: You are my Jury, pages 355 to 362.] So it was either a separately manufactured timer of unknown origin, or it was a fake, planted to turn suspicion away from Iran towards the simpler target nation of Libya. In either case, it destroys the prosecution claims against Al-Megrahi.  And what is notable today is the complete silence by the FBI and the Scottish Crown Office upon this matter. 

Cannistraro in 1986 was tasked by President Reagan to lead a campaign of "disinformation" to destabilise and eventually destroy the Gaddafi regime. 

For most folks with any sense of morality, the word "disinformation" means "lies". But to the White House and their CIA agents, it means doing one's duty for God and America.  

The motto in the entrance hall of CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia is "Seek you the Truth and the Truth shall set you free."  Some say that Americans have no sense of irony. Well, maybe...

Cannistraro was exercised at the refusal of White House assistant Clair George to sign off a proactive counter-terrorism programme which involved kidnappings across the world of “suspected terrorists”. In USA speak of that era, the words meant simply “those who actively oppose US policy”. 

Cannistraro advised: "Dewey Clarridge told me he is being frustrated in carrying out the new counter-terrorist program. Specifically Clair is refusing to sign off on command cables setting up ops to apprehend terrorists abroad.... there was solid agreement on the objectives and intent, and the only contentious point was the legal language which CIA wanted and State and White House counsel insisted be deleted. Clair really doesn't want CIA to get into counter-terrorist mode. I discussed this with Ollie [North] before he left on his trip and he agrees. I think you should raise with [CIA Director] Casey. If you agree, I will do this as DCI [Director of Central Intelligence] / JMP [Poindexter] agenda item or as TPs [talking points] for a secure line call."²

In 2004 Prime Minister Tony Blair must have been aware of these issues. His much vaunted meeting in the desert with Gaddafi in 2004 would surely have covered such matters. But if it did not, then the conclusion one is forced to draw is that MI6 were not including reports on the running of the rendition system in their intelligence briefings at Downing Street. We might therefore fairly ask who runs Britain?

Be that as it may, if we look at this disgusting history with an objective eye, we might consider the honesty and credibility of all these characters.  The standard test of such is usually "Would you buy a used car from this man?"  Our answer is: No. And we wouldn't buy a new one, either.

¹http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2091653,00.html  , BBC and Sky News reports, Human Rights Watch research into files retrieved from Moussa Koussa’s office in Tripoli, 3^rd September 2011.

²Vincent Cannistraro email to John Poindexter, 6th May 1986. White House Email. Pub 1995, National Archive of the United States, Ed. Tom Blanton.

La vérité sur l'attentat de Lockerbie se fait attendre

[This is the headline over a report by Pierre Prier in today’s edition of the French newspaper Le Figaro.  It reads in part:]

Le Libyen condamné pour l'attentat de Lockerbie va sans doute disparaître sans lever tout à fait les doutes sur son rôle dans la plus grave action terroriste attribuée à la Libye. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, condamné à la prison à perpétuité par un tribunal spécial écossais en 2001, puis libéré pour «raisons de santé» en août 2009, a été hospitalisé «dans un état très critique», selon sa famille. Son frère a indiqué lundi soir qu'il a finalement quitté l'établissement affirmant toutefois que «ses jours sont comptés».

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi aura affirmé jusqu'au bout son innocence.
Kadhafi l'avait livré à la justice tout en niant sa responsabilité, soutenant céder aux «pressions occidentales».

De façon étonnante, la version libyenne est partagée aujourd'hui encore par une partie des familles de victimes. Leur chef de file Jim Swire, dont la fille figure parmi les 270 morts du vol Pan Am 103 en décembre 1988, reste persuadé que l'attentat a été perpétré pour le compte de l'Iran par un groupe palestinien installé en Syrie. (…)

Le dossier est complexe, mais les partisans de la manipulation avaient remporté en 2007 une grande victoire: la justice écossaise avait accordé à Megrahi le droit de faire appel, au motif d'une possible «erreur judiciaire».

Deux ans plus tard, Megrahi se voyait libéré car son cancer de la prostate ne lui laissait plus que «trois mois à vivre», selon les experts médicaux. Auparavant, il avait renoncé lui-même à faire appel, entraînant dans la presse britannique des soupçons de marchandage.

Mais la vérité ne disparaîtra pas avec «l'homme de Lockerbie». Trois hauts responsables libyens la connaissent. Ils n'ont pas parlé jusqu'à aujourd'hui, permettant aux partisans de la théorie du complot de pavoiser. «Si ces trois hommes ne parlent pas, c'est qu'ils ne savent rien, puisque la Libye est innocente», assure l'avocat écossais Robert Black, médiateur entre la Libye et l'Écosse pour organiser le procès de 2001.

En tête des détenteurs du secret, Moussa Koussa, ancien chef des services secrets, a été exfiltré quatre mois avant la chute de Tripoli, et il coule aujourd'hui des jours tranquilles au Qatar. Béchir Salah Béchir, l'ancien directeur de cabinet de Kadhafi, vit à Paris après s'être enfui de Libye. Abdallah el-Senoussi, lui aussi ancien cacique des services libyens, a été arrêté en Mauritanie. Paris a réclamé son extradition. Senoussi a été condamné par un tribunal français à la prison à vie pour un autre attentat, contre un DC 10 d'UTA, 170 morts en septembre 1989. Il fait l'objet de délicates négociations entre la France, la Mauritanie et la Libye, qui souhaite aussi le juger. Un nouveau procès en France, conformément à la loi, ne manquerait pas d'évoquer Lockerbie. La procédure écossaise paraît close, mais celle du DC 10 reste ouverte.

[A translation can be obtained through Google Translate.]

Megrahi home from hospital

[What follows is an excerpt from a Reuters news agency report published this evening:]


The Libyan former intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people was released from a Tripoli hospital on Monday after receiving an emergency blood transfusion, his brother said.


Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was taken to a private hospital on Friday to receive a transfusion of eleven litres of blood, but subsequently felt strong enough to return home, his brother Abdel Hakim told Reuters.


"His health is going from bad to worse, but he felt ready to go and his family took him home," Abdel Hakim said.

"I accuse..."

[This is the headline over an article by me published today on the website of Scottish lawyers’ magazine The Firm. It consists of verbatim extracts (in translation) from Émile Zola’s famous public letter “J’accuse...” on the Dreyfus affair.  The final two paragraphs of my article read as follows:]

With the substitution of Megrahi for Dreyfus, Scotland for France, and the office of First Minister for that of President of the French Republic, every word can with equal justice be addressed to Alex Salmond. The magnitude of the Scottish miscarriage of justice and the flaws in the investigation, prosecution and adjudication that led to it have been exposed in the SCCRC’s Statement of Reasons published by The Herald; in John Ashton’s book Megrahi: You are my Jury ; in David Wolchover’s monograph Culprits of Lockerbie; and in Dr M G Kerr’s article An overview of the Lockerbie case.  There is now no shred of justification for continuing to maintain that all is for the best in the best of all criminal justice systems or  -- the coward’s fallback position -- that, while there may have been a few technical, procedural defects in his trial and conviction, Megrahi was clearly guilty anyway, so what does it matter?

Zola’s letter was headed “J’accuse”.  Although the Lockerbie investigation, prosecution and conviction occurred under UK Conservative and Labour administrations, it is Mr Salmond and the Scottish Government that today have the power to put right the disgraceful miscarriage of justice that occurred on the watch of two of their political opponents; and it is accordingly the Scottish SNP Government that today stands accused. The only honourable course of action open to that government is to institute an independent inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 into the performance of the Scottish criminal justice system in the Megrahi case, as a matter which has caused grave public concern. 


[I am grateful to Dr Ludwig de Braeckeleer, author of the encyclopaedic 174-part Lockerbie series Diary of a Vengeance Foretold, for drawing my attention to an article entitled The Dreyfus Affair: Enduring CI Lessons published in the March 2011 issue (vol 55, no 1) of the journal Studies in Intelligence.]

"He is on his last breath"

[What follows is an excerpt from a report from The Associated Press news agency published today on the CTV News website:]

The former Libyan intelligence officer convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing was taken to hospital on Saturday for a blood transfusion with his health deteriorating, his family says.

The son of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, Khaled, said his father was carried to Tripoli Medical Center for the second time in two days.

"My dad's health is very bad and has been worsening," Khaled told The Associated Press at the family house in Tripoli. "He is on his last breath," he added. (…)

Since his return to Libya, al-Megrahi rarely appeared in public. Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's fall last year spurred calls in the United States and Europe to return him to prison. Two New York senators asked the former rebels to hold al-Megrahi fully accountable for the bombing.

At that time, Libya's rebel leaders, who were scrambling to replace Gadhafi's regime with a government of their own, said they would not deport al-Megrahi or any other Libyan. They then softened their stance, saying that only the future elected government could deal with such issues. (…)

Little is known about al-Megrahi. At his trial, he was described as the "airport security" chief for Libyan intelligence, and witnesses reported him negotiating deals to buy equipment for Libya's secret service and military.


[Reports on the websites of The Scotsman and The Independent can be read here and here; and one in The Sunday Times (behind the paywall) here. An Agence France Presse news agency report published this afternoon contains the following:] 

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing, was unconscious and in critical condition in hospital on Sunday, a close relative said.

"He is unconscious and his condition has been very critical over the last three days," a member of the family who declined to be named told AFP by telephone.

"Three days ago (Friday) he lost a lot of blood to the extent his life was in danger," the relative said, adding that Megrahi was hospitalised for an emergency blood transfusion.

"He hadn't been able to speak for 11 days so we were afraid," he said.

In Al-Afia clinic, near Tripoli international airport, members of his family shuttled in and out of his bedroom but declined to speak to the press, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

"We are very tired," his brother told AFP.

"We feel a huge loss because he was a prisoner for 10 years and then came back to us sick," said the relative, adding that his family has since been under "huge pressure" from the press and even come to blows with reporters.

Medical officials at the hospital declined to comment on his health.

"It is against hospital policy, medical ethics and the wishes of his family," clinic director Fawzi Addala said.

Nurses were equally tight-lipped.