[The following is from an article in The Independent on Monday, 7 June:]
A controversial new play exploring a "rift" between the families of victims of the 1988 Lockerbie aircraft bombing has been condemned as "exploitative and irresponsible".
The Families of Lockerbie, which opens this week in Nottingham, portrays how three characters left bereaved by the bombing respond to the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the only person to be convicted of the attack. (...)
Michael Eaton, the play's author, claims its characters are "wholly fictional creations" who represent the dominant opinions of families on either side of the Atlantic.
In the 20 years since the tragedy, bereaved families have expressed differing views on the case. While some British relatives have claimed that Megrahi was wrongly convicted, many American families are convinced of his guilt and have voiced their disgust over his early release.
Jim Swire, whose 23-year-old daughter, Flora, died in the disaster, said: "I don't want to be dramatised. I think it is exploitative, and a responsible producer of the play would have taken the trouble to speak to the families. I suppose he might have found things which ran contrary to his theories." (...)
Eaton said: "What I'm interested in is the very different responses from the US and Scottish families. Twenty years ago they were unified. At the end of every report about Lockerbie we read a quote from the families, and I watched those comments get further and further apart.
"There were three responses: the first was about revenge; he did it and was found guilty and so should never be released. The second is people who thought that the prosecution didn't really have a case. And the third is: 'We weren't allowed to have our loved ones die in the bosom of our family, but that is no reason to deny this man that'."
The playwright is hoping that the production will tour the UK, and even the US. A spokesman for the US families voiced their fears about how an American character – Laura, the widow of a US Marine killed in the bombing – may be portrayed.
"The families are not full of anger or desperate for revenge," said Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103. "We are certainly not united in our view of his guilt, but no US family has said anything negative about another family."
A video posted on the internet featuring interviews with the actors has also sparked anger among the victims' families, after they referred to the bombing as a "crash".
Mary Kay Stratis, whose husband Elia G Stratis died in the bombing, said: "I would strongly suggest that the actors inform themselves and consequently their speech, and their acting portrayals, by understanding that they are portraying the family members of the victims of a mass murder."
[The following is from an article in today's edition of The Scotsman:]
The bombing of a passenger jet in the skies over Lockerbie killed 270 people and was the worst terrorist atrocity in the UK.
Now the tragedy is to be brought to the stage in a hard-hitting show at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Scotsman can reveal.
The efforts of leading Scottish campaigner Jim Swire to find the truth about the bombing of the Boeing 747 will be the focus of a one-man play at one of the biggest venues, Gilded Balloon.
The show is based on an unpublished book that Mr Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the disaster, has worked on for years with author and Lockerbie researcher Peter Biddulph.
Written and performed by multi-award winning Fringe veteran David Benson, Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is billed as "a hard-hitting piece of political theatre with international relevance".
It will explore the conspiracy theories behind the blowing up of Pan Am flight 103 over the Dumfriesshire town on 21 December 1988, the impact of the disaster on Mr Swire's life and the continuing search for justice for the 270 victims. (...)
Mr Benson, previously best known for his portrayals of Kenneth Williams and Noel Coward, said he would not be attempting to impersonate Mr Swire, although the show would be told from his point of view.
He said: "I've had an interest in Lockerbie for some time and came across the website Jim and Peter have set up to try to get their manuscript for the book published, and contacted them through it.
"Peter had already been looking at getting some kind of play off the ground, but it's now a one-man show, which is really about Jim's dogged pursuit of truth and justice since 1988, and where that has taken him."
Mr Swire admitted he had had little involvement in the development of the play, and was concerned it could increase tensions between the families of the victims in Scotland and the US.
He added: "The book, which we're still hoping to get published, is a full account of the campaign, which is obviously being updated all the time.
"We are still trying to secure a public inquiry after all this time and that campaign is still going on with the new government at Westminster."
Mr Biddulph said: "Publishers are just too scared to take on the book for fear of being pursued by lawyers, so it's great that the play will be at the Fringe."
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Labour MP calls for Tony Blair to be sacked
[This is the headline over a report in today's edition of the Sunday Express. It reads in part:]
One of Tony Blair’s former ministers has called on David Cameron to put a stop to the former PM’s globetrotting role as Middle East peace envoy.
Labour MP Kate Hoey said he was not achieving anything in the region and questioned why public money was being spent on subsidising his sun- tanning trips.
Former sports minister Ms Hoey, 63, made her comments during a debate about Gaza on [BBC] Radio 4’s Any Questions programme on Friday.
She said: “I probably shouldn’t say this as a Labour MP, but it does raise the question why we are still paying my previous leader, Tony Blair, to be some kind of peace envoy because I’m not quite sure what he’s doing.
“I remember the razzmatazz when he left being Prime Minister and he became this great peace envoy. I imagine he’s paid for it and I imagine one of the things the new coalition government is going to do is sack him.”
When told that Mr Blair is not paid for the position, she said: “Well, I don’t think he travels there in economy or with easyJet.” (...)
Ms Hoey’s comments came as a spokesman strongly denied claims made in a newspaper yesterday that Mr Blair had become a “consultant” to Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi. The spokesman said: “Tony Blair does not have any role, either formal or informal, paid or unpaid, with the Libyan Investment Authority or the government of Libya.”
He was responding to claims made by the dictator’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who reportedly said Mr Blair was an adviser to the Libyan Investment Authority, which manages the country’s £65billion of oil wealth.
As prime minister, Mr Blair famously shook the dictator’s hand during a meeting in a Bedouin tent outside Tripoli in 2004. Britain severed relations with Libya after the Lockerbie airline bombing in 1989. The convicted bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, was released on compassionate grounds last August.
One of Tony Blair’s former ministers has called on David Cameron to put a stop to the former PM’s globetrotting role as Middle East peace envoy.
Labour MP Kate Hoey said he was not achieving anything in the region and questioned why public money was being spent on subsidising his sun- tanning trips.
Former sports minister Ms Hoey, 63, made her comments during a debate about Gaza on [BBC] Radio 4’s Any Questions programme on Friday.
She said: “I probably shouldn’t say this as a Labour MP, but it does raise the question why we are still paying my previous leader, Tony Blair, to be some kind of peace envoy because I’m not quite sure what he’s doing.
“I remember the razzmatazz when he left being Prime Minister and he became this great peace envoy. I imagine he’s paid for it and I imagine one of the things the new coalition government is going to do is sack him.”
When told that Mr Blair is not paid for the position, she said: “Well, I don’t think he travels there in economy or with easyJet.” (...)
Ms Hoey’s comments came as a spokesman strongly denied claims made in a newspaper yesterday that Mr Blair had become a “consultant” to Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi. The spokesman said: “Tony Blair does not have any role, either formal or informal, paid or unpaid, with the Libyan Investment Authority or the government of Libya.”
He was responding to claims made by the dictator’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who reportedly said Mr Blair was an adviser to the Libyan Investment Authority, which manages the country’s £65billion of oil wealth.
As prime minister, Mr Blair famously shook the dictator’s hand during a meeting in a Bedouin tent outside Tripoli in 2004. Britain severed relations with Libya after the Lockerbie airline bombing in 1989. The convicted bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, was released on compassionate grounds last August.
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Tony Blair, Libya and Megrahi's repatriation
[What follow are excerpts from an article in today's edition of the Daily Mail headlined "Tony Blair our very special adviser by dictator Gaddafi's son".]
Tony Blair has become an adviser to Colonel Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator's son has sensationally claimed.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said the former prime minister has secured a consultancy role with a state fund that manages the country's £65billion of oil wealth.
In an exclusive interview, Saif described Mr Blair as a 'personal family friend' of the Libyan leader and said he had visited the country 'many, many times' since leaving Downing Street three years ago. (...)
Last night, families of the 270 Lockerbie victims accused Mr Blair of breaking bread with people who 'have blood on their hands'.
They have in the past raised questions about Mr Blair's relationship with Colonel Gaddafi especially over a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya that paved the way for the return of the Lockerbie bomber last year.
Saif made clear that the agreement - drawn up when Mr Blair was prime minister - was key to creating a 'special relationship' between Britain and Libya.
Saif suggested Mr Blair was involved in 'Africa projects' with his father, alleging: 'He also has some consultancy role with the Libyan Investment Authority.'
Mr Blair was adamant last night he had no relationship whatsoever with the LIA. However he is advising several firms seeking a slice of the massive revenues from Libya's oil reserves.
Last night, Mr Blair's spokesman said: 'Tony Blair does not have any role, either formal or informal, paid or unpaid, with the Libyan Investment Authority or the government of Libya.
'He has no commercial relationship with any Libyan companies or any Libyan projects in Africa.'
But sources close to the Gaddafi family said Saif - tipped to succeed his father as leader of his country - stands by his comments.
Colonel Gaddafi is understood to be on first name terms with Mr Blair, who saw his work in Libya as one of the great foreign policy successes of his premiership.
Mr Blair has always insisted he played no role in the return of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi, who was sent home last August by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds after doctors wrongly said he had only three months to live.
But Saif said Megrahi's release was 'always on the negotiating table' in discussions about 'commercial contracts for oil and gas with Britain'.
Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, told the Mail: 'If this is true, I guess this is Tony Blair's reward from the Libyan government for what he has done.
'It's important for world peace that Libya is brought back into the community of nations but that doesn't mean that you have to honour people with blood on their hands.'
[The Mail's editorial comment on the issue headed "Peace or money?" can be read here.
Tony Blair's part in the moves which ultimately led to the repatriation of Abdelbaset Megrahi is accurately described in the following excerpt from an earlier post on this blog:]
The memorandum of understanding regarding prisoner transfer that Tony Blair entered into in the course of the "deal in the desert" in May 2007, and which paved the way for the formal prisoner transfer agreement, was intended by both sides to lead to the rapid return of Mr Megrahi to his homeland. This was the clear understanding of Libyan officials involved in the negotiations and to whom I have spoken.
It was only after the memorandum of understanding was concluded that [it belatedly sunk in] that the decision on repatriation of this particular prisoner was a matter not for Westminster and Whitehall but for the devolved Scottish Government in Edinburgh, and that government had just come into the hands of the Scottish National Party and so could no longer be expected supinely to follow the UK Labour Government's wishes. That was when the understanding between the UK Government and the Libyan Government started to unravel, to the considerable annoyance and distress of the Libyans, who had been led to believe that repatriation under the PTA was only months away.
Tony Blair has become an adviser to Colonel Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator's son has sensationally claimed.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said the former prime minister has secured a consultancy role with a state fund that manages the country's £65billion of oil wealth.
In an exclusive interview, Saif described Mr Blair as a 'personal family friend' of the Libyan leader and said he had visited the country 'many, many times' since leaving Downing Street three years ago. (...)
Last night, families of the 270 Lockerbie victims accused Mr Blair of breaking bread with people who 'have blood on their hands'.
They have in the past raised questions about Mr Blair's relationship with Colonel Gaddafi especially over a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya that paved the way for the return of the Lockerbie bomber last year.
Saif made clear that the agreement - drawn up when Mr Blair was prime minister - was key to creating a 'special relationship' between Britain and Libya.
Saif suggested Mr Blair was involved in 'Africa projects' with his father, alleging: 'He also has some consultancy role with the Libyan Investment Authority.'
Mr Blair was adamant last night he had no relationship whatsoever with the LIA. However he is advising several firms seeking a slice of the massive revenues from Libya's oil reserves.
Last night, Mr Blair's spokesman said: 'Tony Blair does not have any role, either formal or informal, paid or unpaid, with the Libyan Investment Authority or the government of Libya.
'He has no commercial relationship with any Libyan companies or any Libyan projects in Africa.'
But sources close to the Gaddafi family said Saif - tipped to succeed his father as leader of his country - stands by his comments.
Colonel Gaddafi is understood to be on first name terms with Mr Blair, who saw his work in Libya as one of the great foreign policy successes of his premiership.
Mr Blair has always insisted he played no role in the return of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi, who was sent home last August by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds after doctors wrongly said he had only three months to live.
But Saif said Megrahi's release was 'always on the negotiating table' in discussions about 'commercial contracts for oil and gas with Britain'.
Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, told the Mail: 'If this is true, I guess this is Tony Blair's reward from the Libyan government for what he has done.
'It's important for world peace that Libya is brought back into the community of nations but that doesn't mean that you have to honour people with blood on their hands.'
[The Mail's editorial comment on the issue headed "Peace or money?" can be read here.
Tony Blair's part in the moves which ultimately led to the repatriation of Abdelbaset Megrahi is accurately described in the following excerpt from an earlier post on this blog:]
The memorandum of understanding regarding prisoner transfer that Tony Blair entered into in the course of the "deal in the desert" in May 2007, and which paved the way for the formal prisoner transfer agreement, was intended by both sides to lead to the rapid return of Mr Megrahi to his homeland. This was the clear understanding of Libyan officials involved in the negotiations and to whom I have spoken.
It was only after the memorandum of understanding was concluded that [it belatedly sunk in] that the decision on repatriation of this particular prisoner was a matter not for Westminster and Whitehall but for the devolved Scottish Government in Edinburgh, and that government had just come into the hands of the Scottish National Party and so could no longer be expected supinely to follow the UK Labour Government's wishes. That was when the understanding between the UK Government and the Libyan Government started to unravel, to the considerable annoyance and distress of the Libyans, who had been led to believe that repatriation under the PTA was only months away.
Friday, 4 June 2010
Close-knit communities may cope better with tragedy
Close-knit is one of those glib expressions about communities that you have to hope is true of the Cumbrian villages and towns that Derrick Bird has despoiled with his obscene guns. They will need to be. (...)
Adrian Skinner, a Harrogate psychologist with special knowledge of disaster counselling, believes that the natural cohesion and fellow-feeling in small communities, left to heal themselves in their own time in their own ways, can be more effective than psychopathology. "Research into the effectiveness of debriefing," he says, "suggests that communities traditionally regarded as close-knit are more resilient than great amorphous cities. People share a history. Everyone knows everyone else and they look at practical ways to help one another."
After the Lockerbie disaster in 1988, an army of American psychologists bearing briefcases descended on the Scottish town where 270 died. They were not welcome. Locals retreated into themselves, as they did at Hungerford and were to do in Dunblane, for mutual comfort. Post-disaster counselling has a mixed track record, says Skinner. "Although it seems daft to say people should not have someone to talk to, all-round counselling is not appropriate for everyone. Only a percentage of people subjected to violence or natural disaster will suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome, and in others the symptom may actually be potentiated by counselling. (...)"
[From an article on the Cumbria shootings in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph.]
Adrian Skinner, a Harrogate psychologist with special knowledge of disaster counselling, believes that the natural cohesion and fellow-feeling in small communities, left to heal themselves in their own time in their own ways, can be more effective than psychopathology. "Research into the effectiveness of debriefing," he says, "suggests that communities traditionally regarded as close-knit are more resilient than great amorphous cities. People share a history. Everyone knows everyone else and they look at practical ways to help one another."
After the Lockerbie disaster in 1988, an army of American psychologists bearing briefcases descended on the Scottish town where 270 died. They were not welcome. Locals retreated into themselves, as they did at Hungerford and were to do in Dunblane, for mutual comfort. Post-disaster counselling has a mixed track record, says Skinner. "Although it seems daft to say people should not have someone to talk to, all-round counselling is not appropriate for everyone. Only a percentage of people subjected to violence or natural disaster will suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome, and in others the symptom may actually be potentiated by counselling. (...)"
[From an article on the Cumbria shootings in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph.]
Thursday, 3 June 2010
'Cowardly terrorist'
[This is the headline over an article published late yesterday (Washington DC time) in the Embassy Row section of the website of The Washington Times. It reads in part:]
The Libyan foreign minister is a "cowardly terrorist" who should never be honored in Washington, the president of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 said Wednesday as he questioned why a prominent Arab-American business association would hold a reception to salute the man linked to the bombing of the airliner.
"Why would anyone want to honor someone with as much blood on his hands as [Foreign Minister] Musa Kousa?" asked Frank Duggan, who represents relatives of the 270 people killed when the flight exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The victims included 190 Americans.
The National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce and the Libyan Embassy are the co-sponsors of the Thursday evening reception, which also will celebrate recent US-Libyan trade deals. The chamber did not respond to an e-mail seeking a comment.
Libyan Ambassador Ali Suileiman Aujali, however, expressed outrage over an Embassy Row column on Tuesday that included references to news reports that linked Mr Kousa to the Pan Am bombing, as well as to the 1986 La Belle discotheque attack in Berlin that killed three US soldiers and injured 230 others, including 50 American soldiers.
Mr Kousa was expelled from Britain in 1980 after London accused him of using his position as head of the Libyan diplomatic mission to order hit men to kill Libyan dissidents. Mr Kousa has never been charged with any act of terrorism and has denied any link to the attacks.
"Libya and the United States have entered a new era in relations, and editorials such as yours devoid of fact and accompanied by slander only allow for the set back of improvements with respect to the emerging bilateral relationship between our two countries," Mr Aujali said in an e-mail.
"I would also like to note, that I strongly object to the slanderous remarks used to describe Secretary Kousa. It is important to note that Secretary Kousa holds the position of Libyan Foreign Minister. He is recognized by his peers, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, from whom he received this invitation to visit Washington, and is therefore deserving of the same respect consummate with other ministers of foreign affairs and persons of his rank."
Mr Aujali noted that Libya paid $2.7 billion in compensation to the relatives of the victims of the Pan Am flight and has established normal diplomatic relations with the United States.
"Having closed this chapter, neither Libya nor the United States will accept to live in the shadow of Lockerbie, as we continue to move forward with the future of our bilateral relationship," Mr Aujali said.
The Libyan foreign minister is a "cowardly terrorist" who should never be honored in Washington, the president of the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 said Wednesday as he questioned why a prominent Arab-American business association would hold a reception to salute the man linked to the bombing of the airliner.
"Why would anyone want to honor someone with as much blood on his hands as [Foreign Minister] Musa Kousa?" asked Frank Duggan, who represents relatives of the 270 people killed when the flight exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The victims included 190 Americans.
The National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce and the Libyan Embassy are the co-sponsors of the Thursday evening reception, which also will celebrate recent US-Libyan trade deals. The chamber did not respond to an e-mail seeking a comment.
Libyan Ambassador Ali Suileiman Aujali, however, expressed outrage over an Embassy Row column on Tuesday that included references to news reports that linked Mr Kousa to the Pan Am bombing, as well as to the 1986 La Belle discotheque attack in Berlin that killed three US soldiers and injured 230 others, including 50 American soldiers.
Mr Kousa was expelled from Britain in 1980 after London accused him of using his position as head of the Libyan diplomatic mission to order hit men to kill Libyan dissidents. Mr Kousa has never been charged with any act of terrorism and has denied any link to the attacks.
"Libya and the United States have entered a new era in relations, and editorials such as yours devoid of fact and accompanied by slander only allow for the set back of improvements with respect to the emerging bilateral relationship between our two countries," Mr Aujali said in an e-mail.
"I would also like to note, that I strongly object to the slanderous remarks used to describe Secretary Kousa. It is important to note that Secretary Kousa holds the position of Libyan Foreign Minister. He is recognized by his peers, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, from whom he received this invitation to visit Washington, and is therefore deserving of the same respect consummate with other ministers of foreign affairs and persons of his rank."
Mr Aujali noted that Libya paid $2.7 billion in compensation to the relatives of the victims of the Pan Am flight and has established normal diplomatic relations with the United States.
"Having closed this chapter, neither Libya nor the United States will accept to live in the shadow of Lockerbie, as we continue to move forward with the future of our bilateral relationship," Mr Aujali said.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Justice among the nations...
[I am grateful to Dr Jim Swire for permitting me to reproduce the following.]
These endured all and gave all, that Justice among the nations might prevail and that mankind might enjoy freedom and inherit peace.
Inscription on lintel of memorial chapel, US cemetery Omaha beach, Normandy.
It is difficult to extract a fair yet brief synopsis from more than 21 years of claim and counter claim over Lockerbie. (...)
In July 1988 the US missile cruiser USS Vincennes, while engaged in a skirmish with Iranian gunboats, within Iranian territorial waters in the Arabian Gulf, mistook an airbus climbing out of Bandar Abbas airfield nearby for an attacking military jet and destroyed it. 290 pilgrims bound for Mecca died and Iran swore revenge.
In December 1988 a US jumbo was destroyed over Lockerbie with the loss of 270 lives.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the UK Department of Transport published its findings in 1990. It found that an IED containing around 350 grams of explosive in the forward baggage hold of the plane had exploded 38 minutes after the plane had left the Heathrow tarmac, blasting a modest hole in the fuselage, and curious circumferential cracks, but causing the plane, no longer under any control, to execute a manoeuvre so extreme as to lead to its complete break-up.
All 259 on board and 11 in Lockerbie died.
In early 1991 a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland found that the aircraft, though US registered, had been under the Host State protection of the UK while being loaded from empty at Heathrow airport prior to its last flight. The inquiry, seeking to avoid harming the ongoing criminal investigation, was instructed to assume that the IED had come into Heathrow on a feeder flight from Frankfurt. That was what the criminal investigation was postulating.
Rodney Wallis, former director of security to the International Air Transport Association in his book Combating Air Terrorism, published in 1993, wrote:
'Ever since the loss of the Iranian aircraft civil aviation security experts had expected some retaliatory action to be taken against a US target. The delay in a revenge attack was believed to hang on the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) report... [T]his established a time scenario that was to dovetail into the Lockerbie tragedy.'
Iran had longstanding links to a Syrian terrorist group called the PFLP-GC. The PFLP-GC had developed specialised IEDs exclusively for attacking aircraft in flight. Such technology was available to terrorists in 1988 and had certain characteristics which made it extraordinarily appropriate as having been used at Lockerbie. In October 1988 the British government had received a detailed description of this technology.
The response to this information was delayed and showed a failure to grasp its consequences. This failure was to resurface in the first appeal at Zeist, where the Lockerbie trial was held.
For the first 2 years of the criminal investigation into Lockerbie, Iran was the presumed culprit. After that, Libya became prime suspect. Douglas Hurd while foreign secretary later claimed in the House that there was no evidence of the involvement of any nation other than Libya.
British relatives of the dead and others spent great effort on encouraging Gaddafi to hand over the two intelligence agents indicted in 1991, for trial. Their hand-over for trial was strongly supported by Nelson Mandela, Professor Robert Black (Edinburgh law professor) and many others.
But also in 1993, two years after the indictments, Lady Thatcher published The Downing Street Years covering the years of her power. The Lockerbie disaster does not appear in the index, but she claims that her support for the USAF bombing of Tripoli and Bengazi in 1986 had the effect, inter alia, that 'Gaddafi had been humbled... there was a marked decline in Libyan sponsored terrorism in succeeding years... the much vaunted Libyan counter attack did not and could not take place'.
In 2000 the trial at Zeist was held. There was no jury, only a bench of senior and exclusively Scottish judges. It provided a rich tranche of material relevant to the disaster, but failed to convince a number of observers of the guilt of either of the accused.
It was the trial evidence, particularly that surrounding the PFLP-GC IEDs, which convinced me that the accused were innocent and led to partially informed speculation as to how the atrocity really had been carried out.
On the whole the media, particularly in the US, took the easy route of accepting the verdict and luxuriating in the consequences of the verdict.
A subsequent appeal failed, but revealed new facts. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) after three years' work, ruled that the trial might have resulted in a miscarriage of justice and sanctioned a second appeal. This was stopped by the terminal illness of the one imprisoned Libyan (Megrahi). Throughout this time his defence was denied access to certain documents by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office using Public Interest Immunity certificates (PIIs), even though at least some of this hidden documentation had been available to the prosecution (and the investigating police) for a number of years, yet was denied to the defence.
Immediately prior to the agreement to set up the trial court at Zeist, Nelson Mandela publicly pronounced that "No one nation should be complainant, prosecutor and judge." Many observers felt that Anglo/US collaboration justified them as being considered 'one nation' over this matter.
These endured all and gave all, that Justice among the nations might prevail and that mankind might enjoy freedom and inherit peace.
Inscription on lintel of memorial chapel, US cemetery Omaha beach, Normandy.
It is difficult to extract a fair yet brief synopsis from more than 21 years of claim and counter claim over Lockerbie. (...)
In July 1988 the US missile cruiser USS Vincennes, while engaged in a skirmish with Iranian gunboats, within Iranian territorial waters in the Arabian Gulf, mistook an airbus climbing out of Bandar Abbas airfield nearby for an attacking military jet and destroyed it. 290 pilgrims bound for Mecca died and Iran swore revenge.
In December 1988 a US jumbo was destroyed over Lockerbie with the loss of 270 lives.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the UK Department of Transport published its findings in 1990. It found that an IED containing around 350 grams of explosive in the forward baggage hold of the plane had exploded 38 minutes after the plane had left the Heathrow tarmac, blasting a modest hole in the fuselage, and curious circumferential cracks, but causing the plane, no longer under any control, to execute a manoeuvre so extreme as to lead to its complete break-up.
All 259 on board and 11 in Lockerbie died.
In early 1991 a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland found that the aircraft, though US registered, had been under the Host State protection of the UK while being loaded from empty at Heathrow airport prior to its last flight. The inquiry, seeking to avoid harming the ongoing criminal investigation, was instructed to assume that the IED had come into Heathrow on a feeder flight from Frankfurt. That was what the criminal investigation was postulating.
Rodney Wallis, former director of security to the International Air Transport Association in his book Combating Air Terrorism, published in 1993, wrote:
'Ever since the loss of the Iranian aircraft civil aviation security experts had expected some retaliatory action to be taken against a US target. The delay in a revenge attack was believed to hang on the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) report... [T]his established a time scenario that was to dovetail into the Lockerbie tragedy.'
Iran had longstanding links to a Syrian terrorist group called the PFLP-GC. The PFLP-GC had developed specialised IEDs exclusively for attacking aircraft in flight. Such technology was available to terrorists in 1988 and had certain characteristics which made it extraordinarily appropriate as having been used at Lockerbie. In October 1988 the British government had received a detailed description of this technology.
The response to this information was delayed and showed a failure to grasp its consequences. This failure was to resurface in the first appeal at Zeist, where the Lockerbie trial was held.
For the first 2 years of the criminal investigation into Lockerbie, Iran was the presumed culprit. After that, Libya became prime suspect. Douglas Hurd while foreign secretary later claimed in the House that there was no evidence of the involvement of any nation other than Libya.
British relatives of the dead and others spent great effort on encouraging Gaddafi to hand over the two intelligence agents indicted in 1991, for trial. Their hand-over for trial was strongly supported by Nelson Mandela, Professor Robert Black (Edinburgh law professor) and many others.
But also in 1993, two years after the indictments, Lady Thatcher published The Downing Street Years covering the years of her power. The Lockerbie disaster does not appear in the index, but she claims that her support for the USAF bombing of Tripoli and Bengazi in 1986 had the effect, inter alia, that 'Gaddafi had been humbled... there was a marked decline in Libyan sponsored terrorism in succeeding years... the much vaunted Libyan counter attack did not and could not take place'.
In 2000 the trial at Zeist was held. There was no jury, only a bench of senior and exclusively Scottish judges. It provided a rich tranche of material relevant to the disaster, but failed to convince a number of observers of the guilt of either of the accused.
It was the trial evidence, particularly that surrounding the PFLP-GC IEDs, which convinced me that the accused were innocent and led to partially informed speculation as to how the atrocity really had been carried out.
On the whole the media, particularly in the US, took the easy route of accepting the verdict and luxuriating in the consequences of the verdict.
A subsequent appeal failed, but revealed new facts. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) after three years' work, ruled that the trial might have resulted in a miscarriage of justice and sanctioned a second appeal. This was stopped by the terminal illness of the one imprisoned Libyan (Megrahi). Throughout this time his defence was denied access to certain documents by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office using Public Interest Immunity certificates (PIIs), even though at least some of this hidden documentation had been available to the prosecution (and the investigating police) for a number of years, yet was denied to the defence.
Immediately prior to the agreement to set up the trial court at Zeist, Nelson Mandela publicly pronounced that "No one nation should be complainant, prosecutor and judge." Many observers felt that Anglo/US collaboration justified them as being considered 'one nation' over this matter.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
'Envoy of death'
[This is the headline over an article in the Embassy Row section of the website of The Washington Times. It reads in part:]
The Libyan foreign minister — linked to the Lockerbie bombing and an attack on a disco in Berlin that killed American soldiers and expelled from Britain for plotting to kill Libyan dissidents — will be honored this week in Washington by US and Arab business executives.
Musa Kousa [or Mousa Kousa or Mousa Kusa or Musa Kusa] is scheduled to discuss a recent Commerce Department mission to Libya and the new US-Libyan trade framework agreement when he attends a reception in his honor sponsored by the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce on Thursday [3 June] at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel.
Mr Kousa's terrorist background extends to the 1980s when he was accused of sending hit men around the world to kill critics of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. In London, he was known as the "envoy of death" when he was the head of the Libyan diplomatic mission to Britain, according to reports in the London newspapers, The Times and The Independent.
After his expulsion from Britain in 1980, Mr Kousa went on to serve as Mr Gadhafi's top spymaster for 15 years. Mr Kousa was reportedly complicit in the 1986 Berlin disco bombing that led to President Reagan's decision to attack Mr. Gadhafi's residence in Tripoli. He was also accused of plotting the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. One hundred ninety victims were Americans. (...)
The refurbishment of Mr Kousa's image began with his appointment as Libya's envoy to talks that led to a $2.7 billion compensation fund for the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster.
The foreign intelligence chief is also reported to have given London information on spies operating in Britain. (...)
President Obama sent career Foreign Service officer Gene A Cretz to serve as US ambassador in Tripoli in December 2008. Libyan Ambassador Ali Suileiman Aujali presented his credentials to Mr Obama in January 2009.
The Libyan foreign minister — linked to the Lockerbie bombing and an attack on a disco in Berlin that killed American soldiers and expelled from Britain for plotting to kill Libyan dissidents — will be honored this week in Washington by US and Arab business executives.
Musa Kousa [or Mousa Kousa or Mousa Kusa or Musa Kusa] is scheduled to discuss a recent Commerce Department mission to Libya and the new US-Libyan trade framework agreement when he attends a reception in his honor sponsored by the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce on Thursday [3 June] at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel.
Mr Kousa's terrorist background extends to the 1980s when he was accused of sending hit men around the world to kill critics of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. In London, he was known as the "envoy of death" when he was the head of the Libyan diplomatic mission to Britain, according to reports in the London newspapers, The Times and The Independent.
After his expulsion from Britain in 1980, Mr Kousa went on to serve as Mr Gadhafi's top spymaster for 15 years. Mr Kousa was reportedly complicit in the 1986 Berlin disco bombing that led to President Reagan's decision to attack Mr. Gadhafi's residence in Tripoli. He was also accused of plotting the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. One hundred ninety victims were Americans. (...)
The refurbishment of Mr Kousa's image began with his appointment as Libya's envoy to talks that led to a $2.7 billion compensation fund for the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster.
The foreign intelligence chief is also reported to have given London information on spies operating in Britain. (...)
President Obama sent career Foreign Service officer Gene A Cretz to serve as US ambassador in Tripoli in December 2008. Libyan Ambassador Ali Suileiman Aujali presented his credentials to Mr Obama in January 2009.
Friday, 28 May 2010
Anniversary of announcement of Libyan settlement offer
It was on this day in May 2002 that Kreindler & Kreindler, the New York law firm representing many of the families of those who died in the Lockerbie disaster, disclosed that Libya had offered a $2.7 billion settlement of their compensation claims ($10 million per family). A contemporaneous report on the CNN website can be read here.
Gaddafi the younger looks to consign Libya's pariah status to the past
[This is the headline over an article published today on the website of The Guardian. It reads in part:]
Saif Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader, has engaged a New York PR firm to present the face of a modern reforming state
It looked, for a while, just like the bad old days: a handful of angry demonstrators on one side of a London street, shouting "Gaddafi is a murderer" and waving placards as a larger group of men on the other pavement lobbed back Arabic insults over the heads of the watching policemen. But the past was swiftly banished when Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, began to speak from the podium in a university lecture hall packed with businessmen, diplomats and students.
Saif, 37, is the face of modern, reforming Libya, emerging from its long years as a pariah state to become a dazzling mecca for western investment, with a reinvigorated energy industry, billions of dollars in cash reserves, a re-opened US embassy, and even plans for mass tourism.
Gaddafi junior has no formal position in the Jamihiriya – the "state of the masses" – but he is an energetic champion of change who has a finger in most pies in Libya, as well as jet-setting friends such as Britain's Lord Mandelson. It is widely assumed that he will one day succeed his father, although he insists he is a democrat for whom dynastic rule ended with the 1969 revolution.
Saif got all the difficult old issues out of the way at the start of his speech at the London School of Economics this week; a rare public appearance. He surveyed Libya's decision to dismantle its programme to develop nuclear and chemical weapons, the lifting of UN sanctions, the settlement of claims relating to the Lockerbie bombing and the end of a long row with Bulgaria over medics who were jailed for allegedly infecting children with the Aids virus.
A predictable question about Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi, the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber who was freed from his Scottish prison and allowed to go home to die last summer, produced a response so terse it was almost non-existent: Saif is evidently well-advised by his New York PR company.
The trick is to focus on the country's new-found respectability and its future prospects.
"For young Libyans particularly, this shift has seemed like a dream come true, a dramatic change, and a very welcome one," he beamed.
"In this new phase, we began to look to find our own way, to develop our economy and reform our political system, and furthermore to adapt to a globalised, interdependent world."
Saif Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader, has engaged a New York PR firm to present the face of a modern reforming state
It looked, for a while, just like the bad old days: a handful of angry demonstrators on one side of a London street, shouting "Gaddafi is a murderer" and waving placards as a larger group of men on the other pavement lobbed back Arabic insults over the heads of the watching policemen. But the past was swiftly banished when Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, began to speak from the podium in a university lecture hall packed with businessmen, diplomats and students.
Saif, 37, is the face of modern, reforming Libya, emerging from its long years as a pariah state to become a dazzling mecca for western investment, with a reinvigorated energy industry, billions of dollars in cash reserves, a re-opened US embassy, and even plans for mass tourism.
Gaddafi junior has no formal position in the Jamihiriya – the "state of the masses" – but he is an energetic champion of change who has a finger in most pies in Libya, as well as jet-setting friends such as Britain's Lord Mandelson. It is widely assumed that he will one day succeed his father, although he insists he is a democrat for whom dynastic rule ended with the 1969 revolution.
Saif got all the difficult old issues out of the way at the start of his speech at the London School of Economics this week; a rare public appearance. He surveyed Libya's decision to dismantle its programme to develop nuclear and chemical weapons, the lifting of UN sanctions, the settlement of claims relating to the Lockerbie bombing and the end of a long row with Bulgaria over medics who were jailed for allegedly infecting children with the Aids virus.
A predictable question about Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi, the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber who was freed from his Scottish prison and allowed to go home to die last summer, produced a response so terse it was almost non-existent: Saif is evidently well-advised by his New York PR company.
The trick is to focus on the country's new-found respectability and its future prospects.
"For young Libyans particularly, this shift has seemed like a dream come true, a dramatic change, and a very welcome one," he beamed.
"In this new phase, we began to look to find our own way, to develop our economy and reform our political system, and furthermore to adapt to a globalised, interdependent world."
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Gadhafi's son: Freed Lockerbie bomber is very sick
[This is the headline over a short report from Associated Press just posted on the website of The Washington Post. It reads as follows:]
The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says the Lockerbie bomber released from a British prison on compassionate grounds is alive but very sick.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi said following a speech in London on Tuesday that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi has "very serious health troubles."
Al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight over Scotland, which killed 270 people. He was freed from a Scottish prison in August on compassionate grounds and returned to Libya.
Doctors gave him only three months to live when he was released.
Critics have accused British authorities of putting commercial interests in Libya ahead of concerns for the families of the victims - many of whom were American college students.
[A longer report giving more of the background has now (Thursday) been published on the African Press Agency website. It can be read here.]
The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says the Lockerbie bomber released from a British prison on compassionate grounds is alive but very sick.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi said following a speech in London on Tuesday that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi has "very serious health troubles."
Al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight over Scotland, which killed 270 people. He was freed from a Scottish prison in August on compassionate grounds and returned to Libya.
Doctors gave him only three months to live when he was released.
Critics have accused British authorities of putting commercial interests in Libya ahead of concerns for the families of the victims - many of whom were American college students.
[A longer report giving more of the background has now (Thursday) been published on the African Press Agency website. It can be read here.]
Monday, 24 May 2010
Nottingham Playhouse Theatre presents "The Families of Lockerbie"
[What follows is from a report on the Guide2Nottingham website.]
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. ‘The Families Of Lockerbie’ pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional.
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
"The Families of Lockerbie" is at the Playhouse from Thursday 10 - Saturday 19 June.
[I am grateful to the Communications Officer of the Nottingham Playhouse for sending me the full text of the press release relating to this production. It reads as follows:]
LOCKERBIE PLAY DRAMATISES 21-YEAR BATTLE FOR JUSTICE
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE is directed by Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director Giles Croft and runs from Thursday 10 to Saturday 19 June (Box Office: 0115 941 9419 or www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk).
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
Renowned for his sensitive dramatisations of the human stories behind current headlines, writer Michael Eaton is no stranger to this particular atrocity. Twenty years ago he dramatised the lead-up to the bombing for television in Why Lockerbie? His TV script, based on the apparent certainty at that time that the bombers were Palestinian, ended at the moment the plane disappeared from an air traffic control screen. In his research then, Eaton met several of the victims’ families and was struck by the unity of purpose they shared. But as the focus of the investigation shifted to Libya and a contentious trial ensued, the dramatist observed that unity fracture, frequently along national lines, and a lid lift on the way the world works. Opening at the same fateful moment of Flight 103’s disappearance from the radar, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE takes up the story in the present.
Michael Eaton MBE is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter and a leading figure in the establishment of the drama-documentary genre. As well as Why Lockerbie?, his actuality-based TV scripts include Shoot to Kill and Shipman. He won Best Screenplay in the 1990 Evening Standard British Film Awards for Fellow Traveller and has also written fictional screen dramas including Signs and Wonders and scripts for Heartbeat and New Street Law. Eaton lives in Nottingham and his theatre work includes two previous dramas for Nottingham Playhouse, The Leaves of Life and Angels Rave On.
True-life stories are also a frequent feature of the work of director Giles Croft, Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director. His productions there include: To Reach the Clouds, a stage retelling by Nick Drake of high-wire walker Philippe Petit’s World Trade Centre exploits which preceded the Oscar-winning film Man on Wire; The White Album, Michael Pinchbeck’s kaleidoscopic play encompassing the creation of the Beatles album and the Manson Family killings; and Jonathan Holloway’s dramas Because It’s There, recounting the true story of Mallory & Irvine, and Angels Among the Trees, about the Donner Party.
THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE marks the second time that real-life husband and wife Robert Benfield and Joan Moon have played a married couple at Nottingham Playhouse, after appearing as Dr & Mrs Bradman in Giles Croft’s production of Blithe Spirit last year. Separately, they have also acted there in Chicken Soup with Barley and The Burial at Thebes respectively. Based in nearby Ilkeston, David Beckford appeared at the Playhouse in To Reach the Clouds, while his many credits for Northern Broadsides include last year’s acclaimed West End transfer of Othello with Lenny Henry. Making her debut with Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company, Jennifer Woodward is an American-born actor and writer whose credits include the West End production of The Lady from Dubuque as well as an appearance in Sex & the City.
Designer Nathan Rose has designed a striking TV studio set which subtly incorporates a visual reminder of the downed plane. Head of the Playhouse’s Props department, Rose is joined on the production by an in-house team of Karl Bock as AV Designer and Drew Baumohl as Sound Designer. Music is composed by Jonathan Girling, lighting is by Alexandra Stafford, the Voice Coach is Sally Hague and additional research is by Gareth Morgan.
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. ‘The Families Of Lockerbie’ pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional.
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
"The Families of Lockerbie" is at the Playhouse from Thursday 10 - Saturday 19 June.
[I am grateful to the Communications Officer of the Nottingham Playhouse for sending me the full text of the press release relating to this production. It reads as follows:]
LOCKERBIE PLAY DRAMATISES 21-YEAR BATTLE FOR JUSTICE
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE is directed by Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director Giles Croft and runs from Thursday 10 to Saturday 19 June (Box Office: 0115 941 9419 or www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk).
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
Renowned for his sensitive dramatisations of the human stories behind current headlines, writer Michael Eaton is no stranger to this particular atrocity. Twenty years ago he dramatised the lead-up to the bombing for television in Why Lockerbie? His TV script, based on the apparent certainty at that time that the bombers were Palestinian, ended at the moment the plane disappeared from an air traffic control screen. In his research then, Eaton met several of the victims’ families and was struck by the unity of purpose they shared. But as the focus of the investigation shifted to Libya and a contentious trial ensued, the dramatist observed that unity fracture, frequently along national lines, and a lid lift on the way the world works. Opening at the same fateful moment of Flight 103’s disappearance from the radar, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE takes up the story in the present.
Michael Eaton MBE is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter and a leading figure in the establishment of the drama-documentary genre. As well as Why Lockerbie?, his actuality-based TV scripts include Shoot to Kill and Shipman. He won Best Screenplay in the 1990 Evening Standard British Film Awards for Fellow Traveller and has also written fictional screen dramas including Signs and Wonders and scripts for Heartbeat and New Street Law. Eaton lives in Nottingham and his theatre work includes two previous dramas for Nottingham Playhouse, The Leaves of Life and Angels Rave On.
True-life stories are also a frequent feature of the work of director Giles Croft, Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director. His productions there include: To Reach the Clouds, a stage retelling by Nick Drake of high-wire walker Philippe Petit’s World Trade Centre exploits which preceded the Oscar-winning film Man on Wire; The White Album, Michael Pinchbeck’s kaleidoscopic play encompassing the creation of the Beatles album and the Manson Family killings; and Jonathan Holloway’s dramas Because It’s There, recounting the true story of Mallory & Irvine, and Angels Among the Trees, about the Donner Party.
THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE marks the second time that real-life husband and wife Robert Benfield and Joan Moon have played a married couple at Nottingham Playhouse, after appearing as Dr & Mrs Bradman in Giles Croft’s production of Blithe Spirit last year. Separately, they have also acted there in Chicken Soup with Barley and The Burial at Thebes respectively. Based in nearby Ilkeston, David Beckford appeared at the Playhouse in To Reach the Clouds, while his many credits for Northern Broadsides include last year’s acclaimed West End transfer of Othello with Lenny Henry. Making her debut with Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company, Jennifer Woodward is an American-born actor and writer whose credits include the West End production of The Lady from Dubuque as well as an appearance in Sex & the City.
Designer Nathan Rose has designed a striking TV studio set which subtly incorporates a visual reminder of the downed plane. Head of the Playhouse’s Props department, Rose is joined on the production by an in-house team of Karl Bock as AV Designer and Drew Baumohl as Sound Designer. Music is composed by Jonathan Girling, lighting is by Alexandra Stafford, the Voice Coach is Sally Hague and additional research is by Gareth Morgan.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Megrahi release "a strategic error by London"
The heart of a Conservative-led foreign policy must be the Special Relationship, the most important and successful partnership of modern times. It is the beating heart of the free world and the engine that drives the global war against Islamist terrorism. Under Obama and Brown, the Anglo–American alliance has been weakened through a combination of Washington’s indifference and a series of strategic errors by London, including the appalling release last year of Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. Disappointingly, the US President has never even mentioned Britain in a single major speech, both before and since entering the White House.
The next Prime Minister should make the full restoration of the alliance with the United States a top priority. He should also ensure that Britain’s freedom to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America is not constrained by the Treaty of Lisbon and the relentless drive toward ever-closer union in Europe.
[I am grateful to Caustic Logic for drawing my attention to the article entitled "Four Key Principles for a Conservative British Foreign Policy" by Nile Gardner, US right-wing pundit and Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation. What appears above is the first of his "key principles". It was, of course, the Edinburgh, not the London, Government that took the decision to release Mr Megrahi. But there can be little doubt that if the decision had rested with London, repatriation would have been accomplished considerably sooner than it was, albeit through prisoner transfer rather than compassionate release.
Mr Gardner also blogs on the website of the Conservative-supporting UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.]
The next Prime Minister should make the full restoration of the alliance with the United States a top priority. He should also ensure that Britain’s freedom to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America is not constrained by the Treaty of Lisbon and the relentless drive toward ever-closer union in Europe.
[I am grateful to Caustic Logic for drawing my attention to the article entitled "Four Key Principles for a Conservative British Foreign Policy" by Nile Gardner, US right-wing pundit and Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation. What appears above is the first of his "key principles". It was, of course, the Edinburgh, not the London, Government that took the decision to release Mr Megrahi. But there can be little doubt that if the decision had rested with London, repatriation would have been accomplished considerably sooner than it was, albeit through prisoner transfer rather than compassionate release.
Mr Gardner also blogs on the website of the Conservative-supporting UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.]
Friday, 21 May 2010
US, Libya cement new friendship with trade deal
[This is the headline over a Reuters report on the XE website. It reads as follows:]
The United States and Libya signed a trade agreement on Thursday underlining their switch from decades-long hostility to lucrative business ties.
US companies lagged their European rivals in entering the Libyan market after international sanctions on Tripoli were lifted in 2004. Washington is now striving to catch up.
Under the agreement, a joint council will be set up to handle issues including market access and intellectual property, and Washington will help Libya with its application to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), officials said.
'The importance of this agreement is to build trust,' Libyan Trade Minister Mohamed Hweji told Reuters.
Christopher Wilson, Assistant US Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, was in the Libyan capital to sign the agreement.
'We want to see the numbers grow in terms of both trade and investment,' he told reporters. 'We are looking forward to creating the best conditions to do that.'
US aircraft bombed oil exporter Libya in 1986, killing more than 40 people. Washington accused Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi of supporting armed militants and trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Relations were restored after Gaddafi renounced banned weapons programmes and agreed to pay compensation to the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
In 2003, the United States exported $200,000 worth of goods to Libya and imported nothing. By 2009, exports to Libya had surged to $666 million and imports to $1.9 billion.
Diplomatic relations between Tripoli and Washington hit a set-back earlier this year when a State Department official made caustic comments about a speech in which Gaddafi had called for a 'jihad' against Switzerland.
US energy companies operating in Libya, including Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips were warned their interests could suffer as a result. The row was resolved when the State Department official apologised.
The United States and Libya signed a trade agreement on Thursday underlining their switch from decades-long hostility to lucrative business ties.
US companies lagged their European rivals in entering the Libyan market after international sanctions on Tripoli were lifted in 2004. Washington is now striving to catch up.
Under the agreement, a joint council will be set up to handle issues including market access and intellectual property, and Washington will help Libya with its application to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), officials said.
'The importance of this agreement is to build trust,' Libyan Trade Minister Mohamed Hweji told Reuters.
Christopher Wilson, Assistant US Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, was in the Libyan capital to sign the agreement.
'We want to see the numbers grow in terms of both trade and investment,' he told reporters. 'We are looking forward to creating the best conditions to do that.'
US aircraft bombed oil exporter Libya in 1986, killing more than 40 people. Washington accused Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi of supporting armed militants and trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Relations were restored after Gaddafi renounced banned weapons programmes and agreed to pay compensation to the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
In 2003, the United States exported $200,000 worth of goods to Libya and imported nothing. By 2009, exports to Libya had surged to $666 million and imports to $1.9 billion.
Diplomatic relations between Tripoli and Washington hit a set-back earlier this year when a State Department official made caustic comments about a speech in which Gaddafi had called for a 'jihad' against Switzerland.
US energy companies operating in Libya, including Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips were warned their interests could suffer as a result. The row was resolved when the State Department official apologised.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Lockerbie bomber 'lives longest'
[This is the headline over a report just published on the website of the Belfast Telegraph. It reads in part:]
The Lockerbie bomber has lived longer than other convicted murderers who have been granted compassionate release, it has been disclosed.
Conservative justice spokesman [in the Scottish Parliament] Bill Aitken said that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi "now surpasses the record for the longest amount of time a convicted murderer has been free after being granted compassionate release".
The Libyan, who has terminal prostate cancer, was controversially released from jail on August 20 last year.
Details published on the Scottish Government website showed 38 prisoners have been granted compassionate release since 1993.
Megrahi has now lived longer than the other convicted murderers who have been freed over this period - prompting fresh calls for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to release medical reports on the bomber.
At the same time it was reported Megrahi has been working on a television documentary, which could be released later this year.
[A similar report is to be found on the STV News website. It can be read here.
The issue, as might have been expected, has been picked up by some of Thursday's daily newspapers. The report in The Times can be read here and that in The Sun here.]
The Lockerbie bomber has lived longer than other convicted murderers who have been granted compassionate release, it has been disclosed.
Conservative justice spokesman [in the Scottish Parliament] Bill Aitken said that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi "now surpasses the record for the longest amount of time a convicted murderer has been free after being granted compassionate release".
The Libyan, who has terminal prostate cancer, was controversially released from jail on August 20 last year.
Details published on the Scottish Government website showed 38 prisoners have been granted compassionate release since 1993.
Megrahi has now lived longer than the other convicted murderers who have been freed over this period - prompting fresh calls for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to release medical reports on the bomber.
At the same time it was reported Megrahi has been working on a television documentary, which could be released later this year.
[A similar report is to be found on the STV News website. It can be read here.
The issue, as might have been expected, has been picked up by some of Thursday's daily newspapers. The report in The Times can be read here and that in The Sun here.]
UK and US politicians' attitudes on Lockerbie
The most recent post on Caustic Logic's blog The Lockerbie Divide compares and contrasts the stance taken by elected politicians in the United Kingdom and the United States in relation to the Lockerbie case and the conviction of Abdelbaset Megrahi. This interesting piece can be read here.
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