[This is the headline over a review of Lockerbie: Unfinished Business on the Broadway Baby website. It reads in part:]
It’s strange to be reviewing this at all. Written and performed by David Benson it’s delivered in the form of a lecture by Jim Swire, the father of Flora Swire, one of 270 people murdered on December 21st 1988 when the Jumbo Jet they were in was blown out of the skies by a bomb above the Scottish town of Lockerbie. It’s hard to review because proceedings are conducted in such a matter of fact manner, and the material, of course, all real, that I wonder if this counts as a play or entertainment at all. Not that this diminishes its power in any way.
Swire/Benson begins by showing us how to construct a bomb similar to the one which blew Pan Am 103 from the skies. There is no emotion in his voice, and he merely explains how easy it is. Thence he reveals that the intelligence services had been warned that just such a bomb might be used by terrorists groups, and the fact it wasn’t detected is just the first disturbing evidence that politics, not justice, was allowed to dictate the subsequent events and show trials that followed.
Jim Swire has never been satisfied with any of the investigations that followed his daughter’s death. He shows, with the aid of projector and other audio visual aids, how the obvious suspects were Iranian terrorists. The attention of the investigators’ then became inexplicably turned towards Libya, and as we all know only one man, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. All the evidence as presented here by Swire points to the fact this was a gross miscarriage of justice, and that the real bombers or bombers has never been caught.
There’s a lot to take in here, and midst the minutiae of evidence and the weight of conspiracy, the moments that really stand out for me, and make it more a play then a lecture, are the simple human insights. Flora was saving the news that she had been accepted for her research degree for Christmas Day. Swire’s wife envies her husband his anger as an outlet. The tale of the jobsworth in Lockerbie who brusquely told Swire he “shouldn’t be in here” as he tried to say goodbye to his daughter as she lay mutilated in the makeshift mortuary in the ice rink. Perhaps them most harrowing moment of all is the playing of the last moments of the flight as taken from the black box flight recorder. The drowsy hum of the engine, the small “pop”, the rushing of air into the cabin, the screams….. and then the continuing screams midst a horrible rushing sound. (...)
Benson’s performance is truly remarkable. He rarely becomes emotional in the part, so that when he does – usually when remembering his darling girl, it is all the more powerful. Even his anger is kept under wraps most of the time. This would sit well with the real Jim Swire, who I have often seen on TV still campaigning. If the piece has a weakness it is that the labyrinthine machinations of the worldwide politics that lead to the covering up of the truth are difficult to totally keep hold of, even with the visual aids.
Jim Swire is now part of the campaign to prove Al Megrahi was innocent, and through Benson asks us to get involved. Of course this is partly to prove that the real killers are still at large, but the fact that he can care so passionately about justice for a man he has never met is reason to smile and have hope for us all as a race. There are truly good people in the world, and we have to hang on to that if the bastards who calmly planted a deadly suitcase in the cargo hold of that plane are not to win.
Whoever they were.
[The Guardian's review can be read here and a long review article on the BBC News website can be read here.
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business can be seen at the Gilded Balloon Teviot at 14.30 until 30 August (not 18th August).]
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
A tale of three atrocities
Charles, a frequent commentator on this blog, has published his thesis on responsibility for the downing of Pan Am 103 here. It is subtitled "A different view on Lockerbie".
Megrahi doubts
"The suspicion that Kenny MacAskill was pulling out all the stops to prevent a Megrahi appeal - and the resultant almost certain embarrassment for the justice minister, Scottish justice and the country - grows stronger with every new revelation."
From a letter in today's edition of The Scotsman.
"[The writers of two earlier letters] continue zealously to follow the tradition established by all previous opponents of Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s intervention in the Megrahi affair: that is, to studiously ignore the monstrous pachyderm in the living room – the manifestly unjust nature of the original verdict." (...)
"I am not a member of the Roman Catholic Church but I found it depressing to read the bitter letters from Tom Gallagher and Alistair McBay attacking Cardinal Keith O’Brien. Looking at the bigger picture, there is growing opinion in Scotland and elsewhere that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi’s conviction of a most heinous crime is, at the very least, unsafe.
"That opinion is shared by many of the bereaved families, and was articulated by Dr Jim Swire in his uplifting and inspirational letter (August 10) in which he wrote: 'There was evidence at Camp Zeist that made me and many others doubt Megrahi’s guilt. Much more has accumulated since, and the total of it now strains credulity beyond breaking point.'" (...)
From two letters in today's edition of The Herald.
It is precisely this attitude, which is prevalent in Scotland (and even more so in the rest of the world, with the exception of the United States of America) that renders it imperative to restore the shattered reputation of Scottish criminal justice by establishing an independent inquiry into the Lockerbie case. The concerns of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and others cannot simply be swept under the carpet. Lockerbie will not just go away. However unpalatable it may be to the Lord Advocate and the Crown Office, the Scottish Government must now act. The interests of justice -- including the restoration of confidence in the integrity of the criminal justice system -- demand it.
From a letter in today's edition of The Scotsman.
"[The writers of two earlier letters] continue zealously to follow the tradition established by all previous opponents of Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s intervention in the Megrahi affair: that is, to studiously ignore the monstrous pachyderm in the living room – the manifestly unjust nature of the original verdict." (...)
"I am not a member of the Roman Catholic Church but I found it depressing to read the bitter letters from Tom Gallagher and Alistair McBay attacking Cardinal Keith O’Brien. Looking at the bigger picture, there is growing opinion in Scotland and elsewhere that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi’s conviction of a most heinous crime is, at the very least, unsafe.
"That opinion is shared by many of the bereaved families, and was articulated by Dr Jim Swire in his uplifting and inspirational letter (August 10) in which he wrote: 'There was evidence at Camp Zeist that made me and many others doubt Megrahi’s guilt. Much more has accumulated since, and the total of it now strains credulity beyond breaking point.'" (...)
From two letters in today's edition of The Herald.
It is precisely this attitude, which is prevalent in Scotland (and even more so in the rest of the world, with the exception of the United States of America) that renders it imperative to restore the shattered reputation of Scottish criminal justice by establishing an independent inquiry into the Lockerbie case. The concerns of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and others cannot simply be swept under the carpet. Lockerbie will not just go away. However unpalatable it may be to the Lord Advocate and the Crown Office, the Scottish Government must now act. The interests of justice -- including the restoration of confidence in the integrity of the criminal justice system -- demand it.
Monday, 16 August 2010
US Senator seeks Lockerbie 'whistleblowers'
[It appears that the stories circulating on Sunday were accurate. Senator Menendez is calling upon Scottish civil servants and professionals to break their employment contracts and, in some cases, the law of the land by supplying information to him. A report by the news agency Agence France Presse reads in part:]
A US senator investigating the Lockerbie bomber's release called Monday for "whistleblowers" with behind-the-scenes knowledge of the controversy to share their secrets with his probe.
"All correspondence will remain confidential and identities will not be disclosed unless permission is granted," Democratic Senator Robert Menendez promised potential sources nearly one year after the bomber was freed.
The lawmaker's office said it was "interested in hearing from whistleblowers" with information on a wide range of issues tied to the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi in August 2009 on compassionate grounds.
Menendez sought details of: Talks between oil giant BP and Libya from 2003 onward; discussions between Britain's government and BP regarding oil and gas exploration in Libya from 2003 onward; negotiations between Britain and Libya from 2003 onward; and Megrahi's health before and after his release.
Menendez also sought information about the British, Libyan, and Scottish governments' "perspective" on Megrahi's release; the Scottish medical community's view of Megrahi's diagnosis; and the bomber's legal representation throughout the process. (...)
Menendez planned to chair a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the matter "in the coming weeks" after an earlier session was canceled due to lack of cooperation from the governments involved as well as BP.
[The whistleblowing story now also appears on the US Congress website The Hill.
The United Kingdom Government should immediately, and in the strongest possible terms, require the US State Department, in the person of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to disown and deplore this attempt by a US legislator to induce breaches of the law of a friendly foreign country. And the Scottish Government (which has no foreign relations powers but which has recently been in correspondence with Senator John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) should immediately write to Senator Kerry demanding that he issue a statement dissociating the Committee from Senator Menendez's outrageous attempt to suborn Scottish public servants.]
A US senator investigating the Lockerbie bomber's release called Monday for "whistleblowers" with behind-the-scenes knowledge of the controversy to share their secrets with his probe.
"All correspondence will remain confidential and identities will not be disclosed unless permission is granted," Democratic Senator Robert Menendez promised potential sources nearly one year after the bomber was freed.
The lawmaker's office said it was "interested in hearing from whistleblowers" with information on a wide range of issues tied to the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi in August 2009 on compassionate grounds.
Menendez sought details of: Talks between oil giant BP and Libya from 2003 onward; discussions between Britain's government and BP regarding oil and gas exploration in Libya from 2003 onward; negotiations between Britain and Libya from 2003 onward; and Megrahi's health before and after his release.
Menendez also sought information about the British, Libyan, and Scottish governments' "perspective" on Megrahi's release; the Scottish medical community's view of Megrahi's diagnosis; and the bomber's legal representation throughout the process. (...)
Menendez planned to chair a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the matter "in the coming weeks" after an earlier session was canceled due to lack of cooperation from the governments involved as well as BP.
[The whistleblowing story now also appears on the US Congress website The Hill.
The United Kingdom Government should immediately, and in the strongest possible terms, require the US State Department, in the person of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to disown and deplore this attempt by a US legislator to induce breaches of the law of a friendly foreign country. And the Scottish Government (which has no foreign relations powers but which has recently been in correspondence with Senator John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) should immediately write to Senator Kerry demanding that he issue a statement dissociating the Committee from Senator Menendez's outrageous attempt to suborn Scottish public servants.]
Lockerbie: grandstanding and hypocrisy in the Senate
[This is the heading over an article by English lawyer Michael House in The Polemecist section of the Weekly Hubris website. It reads in part:]
It appears that there are elections to the US Senate coming up.
New England senators are working themselves up into a lather over the release of “Lockerbie bomber” Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Apparently, his release by the Scottish authorities was only acceptable if he died within three months of his release. But the treacherous bastard is still alive, 12 months later. Now, the grandstanding senators are trying to link his release with BP’s attempts to penetrate the Libyan oil market. Not a scrap of evidence to support the hypothesis, but that will not stop vote-grubbing senators trying to link the two major villains on the planet today—British Petroleum and al-Megrahi. Happily, their impertinent demands that British politicians appear before their kangaroo-court committee have been rebuffed.
The senators might like to consider the following facts:
Mr. al-Megrahi is almost certainly innocent, and was convicted on the tainted and confused evidence of a Maltese shopkeeper who was paid at least 2 million dollars for his evidence. Dr. Jim Swire, who lost a daughter at Lockerbie and has relentlessly pursued the truth ever since, is convinced al-Megrahi was wrongly convicted. (...)
Part of the deal for al-Megrahi’s release was for his appeal to be abandoned. This was essential for the Scots, because it was highly likely that his conviction would have been quashed, causing enormous embarrassment to the Scottish judicial system.
The Montreal convention of 1971, created under the UN-linked International Civil Aviation Organization, stated that the suspects in the bombing of flight PA 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, should be tried in Libya. The US used its muscle to orchestrate UN sanctions to force the surrender of the suspects to a British or American court. The result of those sanctions was the death of thousands of Libyans suffering from serious medical conditions who could not be air-lifted abroad. Over 700 Libyans died in ambulances en route to neighbouring countries. It is estimated that 1,135 stillbirths and 514 maternal deaths occurred as a result of shortages of medicines, vaccines and serums. The figures are confirmed in a UN report of 1998. An estimated 16,000 Libyan deaths resulted from the US’s bully-boy tactics. All evidence suggesting that the bombers were Syrians was ignored.
Even if al-Megrahi was guilty, where is the moral distinction between his alleged act and the actions of the USAF in trying to murder Gaddafi in a bombing raid on Tripoli that killed 59 people in 1986, or of the captain of the USS Vincennes, who shot down Iran Air flight 655 in 1988, killing 290 passengers and crew, including 66 children?
Senators in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
It appears that there are elections to the US Senate coming up.
New England senators are working themselves up into a lather over the release of “Lockerbie bomber” Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Apparently, his release by the Scottish authorities was only acceptable if he died within three months of his release. But the treacherous bastard is still alive, 12 months later. Now, the grandstanding senators are trying to link his release with BP’s attempts to penetrate the Libyan oil market. Not a scrap of evidence to support the hypothesis, but that will not stop vote-grubbing senators trying to link the two major villains on the planet today—British Petroleum and al-Megrahi. Happily, their impertinent demands that British politicians appear before their kangaroo-court committee have been rebuffed.
The senators might like to consider the following facts:
Mr. al-Megrahi is almost certainly innocent, and was convicted on the tainted and confused evidence of a Maltese shopkeeper who was paid at least 2 million dollars for his evidence. Dr. Jim Swire, who lost a daughter at Lockerbie and has relentlessly pursued the truth ever since, is convinced al-Megrahi was wrongly convicted. (...)
Part of the deal for al-Megrahi’s release was for his appeal to be abandoned. This was essential for the Scots, because it was highly likely that his conviction would have been quashed, causing enormous embarrassment to the Scottish judicial system.
The Montreal convention of 1971, created under the UN-linked International Civil Aviation Organization, stated that the suspects in the bombing of flight PA 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, should be tried in Libya. The US used its muscle to orchestrate UN sanctions to force the surrender of the suspects to a British or American court. The result of those sanctions was the death of thousands of Libyans suffering from serious medical conditions who could not be air-lifted abroad. Over 700 Libyans died in ambulances en route to neighbouring countries. It is estimated that 1,135 stillbirths and 514 maternal deaths occurred as a result of shortages of medicines, vaccines and serums. The figures are confirmed in a UN report of 1998. An estimated 16,000 Libyan deaths resulted from the US’s bully-boy tactics. All evidence suggesting that the bombers were Syrians was ignored.
Even if al-Megrahi was guilty, where is the moral distinction between his alleged act and the actions of the USAF in trying to murder Gaddafi in a bombing raid on Tripoli that killed 59 people in 1986, or of the captain of the USS Vincennes, who shot down Iran Air flight 655 in 1988, killing 290 passengers and crew, including 66 children?
Senators in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Pilger adds name to call for Pan Am 103 inquiry
[This is the headline over a report on the website of Scottish lawyers' magazine The Firm. It reads as follows:]
Renowned investigative journalist John Pilger has added his name to a petition presently before the United Nations for a wide ranging inquiry into the Pan Am 103 event and its aftermath.
Pilger, who has earned and reinforced a reputation for campaigning journalism over five decades, is the latest to add his name to a list of signatories that already includes Archbiashop Desmond Tutu, Professor Noam Chomsky, Tam Dalyell, Professor Robert Black QC, Dr Jim Swire, Sir Teddy Taylor and Iain Mckie, amongst others.
Last week, UK print and broadcast media were requested en masse to endorse the petition, an invitation previously extended both to First Minister Alex Salmond and Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, as well as the four United States Senators who had called for an investigation focusing on the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmad Al Megrahi.
"The petition presently before the UN has no agenda other than to seek the truth into the whole circumstances of the Pan Am 103 event and the debacle that has followed, and continues to this day," said The Firm's Editor, Steven Raeburn, one of the signatories to the petition.
"The list of those requested to and agreeing to back its aims is growing inexorably, and Pilger's reputation in support of truth and justice is peerless. Regardless of one's views on the events surrounding Lockerbie, too many questions do not yet have satisfactory answers, many of which may possibly have been supplied by the Scottish judicial process, had it not been halted.
"An honest and rigourous inquiry into all those events will surely help clear the stain on Scottish justice, and bring some comfort to those bereaved, who have had to suffer years in want of the truth. There is nothing to fear from such an inquiry, unless possibly you believe there is something to hide. The quicker an inquiry is called by those with power to do so, the quicker the answers will be found, and justice served."
[John Pilger has written on the Lockerbie case. Here is an example.]
Renowned investigative journalist John Pilger has added his name to a petition presently before the United Nations for a wide ranging inquiry into the Pan Am 103 event and its aftermath.
Pilger, who has earned and reinforced a reputation for campaigning journalism over five decades, is the latest to add his name to a list of signatories that already includes Archbiashop Desmond Tutu, Professor Noam Chomsky, Tam Dalyell, Professor Robert Black QC, Dr Jim Swire, Sir Teddy Taylor and Iain Mckie, amongst others.
Last week, UK print and broadcast media were requested en masse to endorse the petition, an invitation previously extended both to First Minister Alex Salmond and Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, as well as the four United States Senators who had called for an investigation focusing on the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmad Al Megrahi.
"The petition presently before the UN has no agenda other than to seek the truth into the whole circumstances of the Pan Am 103 event and the debacle that has followed, and continues to this day," said The Firm's Editor, Steven Raeburn, one of the signatories to the petition.
"The list of those requested to and agreeing to back its aims is growing inexorably, and Pilger's reputation in support of truth and justice is peerless. Regardless of one's views on the events surrounding Lockerbie, too many questions do not yet have satisfactory answers, many of which may possibly have been supplied by the Scottish judicial process, had it not been halted.
"An honest and rigourous inquiry into all those events will surely help clear the stain on Scottish justice, and bring some comfort to those bereaved, who have had to suffer years in want of the truth. There is nothing to fear from such an inquiry, unless possibly you believe there is something to hide. The quicker an inquiry is called by those with power to do so, the quicker the answers will be found, and justice served."
[John Pilger has written on the Lockerbie case. Here is an example.]
Lockerbie families call for fresh investigation
I am grateful to a reader of this blog (and a welcome commentator) for drawing my attention to a video on the website of the Daily Record, one of Scotland's largest-circulation and fiercely Labour-supporting tabloids. In it Pam Dix, spokesman for the Lockerbie relatives group UK Families Flight 103 expresses the group's support for a full independent inquiry into the Lockerbie case.
I am grateful to another reader and welcome commentator for drawing my attention to an article by Joan Burnie headed "We must unlock truth on atrocity" in her Friday Column in the Daily Record on 23 July. The following are excerpts:
There is something distasteful about willing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to die, no matter how evil he may or may not be.
As malignant as the cancer spreading through Megrahi's body is this baying for his corpse, with the bloodlust of a crowd at a public stoning.
It is understandable that the families of the victims want vengeance but let's not pretend that they matter a jot to the real players in all of this.
They are pawns in a game of global politics, duplicity and corporate might.
The main focus of the debate is ludicrous, anyway.
Doctors can't give a survival time in cancer cases. They are not gods.
From the moment of diagnosis, cancer is a waiting game. (...)
In the meantime, the elephant in the room - the real issue of whether Megrahi was even behind the bombing - has been pushed conveniently to one side.
It is barely mentioned and yet it is the most important issue of all.
Do we really want Megrahi to die when he will take the truth to his grave?
On June 28, 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission completed their investigation, having concluded that there was evidence of a potential miscarriage of justice.
It is more than likely that Megrahi was innocent and, as someone who believes that, I am glad he will spend his dying days at home in Libya. (...)
It is a grave pity that, with all the backroom dealing, his appeal didn't go ahead.
And that's the key, because it was never in the interests of the UK or American governments to have the truth outed in a courtroom.
The US government, who now so piously condemn the release of Megrahi, forget their part in covering up the truth, the witnesses paid off, allegedly, with the authority of the FBI. (...)
If the families of the Lockerbie victims matter at all, why haven't their calls for a full public inquiry into the atrocity been answered?
Instead, they have been lied to and their need for answers has been ignored. What a tragedy. What an utter betrayal.
Pamela Dix, whose brother Peter was killed in the bombing of Pan Am 103, claims the families have "faced years of denials and obfuscation".
Jim Swire, whose beautiful young daughter Flora died in the disaster, is convinced the wrong man was jailed.
At the heart of all of this is not that Megrahi should lose his life but that on Wednesday, December 21, 1988, 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing lost theirs.
Their families deserve to know why they died and, for all the millions thrown at them, that is the only compensation that counts.
I am grateful to another reader and welcome commentator for drawing my attention to an article by Joan Burnie headed "We must unlock truth on atrocity" in her Friday Column in the Daily Record on 23 July. The following are excerpts:
There is something distasteful about willing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to die, no matter how evil he may or may not be.
As malignant as the cancer spreading through Megrahi's body is this baying for his corpse, with the bloodlust of a crowd at a public stoning.
It is understandable that the families of the victims want vengeance but let's not pretend that they matter a jot to the real players in all of this.
They are pawns in a game of global politics, duplicity and corporate might.
The main focus of the debate is ludicrous, anyway.
Doctors can't give a survival time in cancer cases. They are not gods.
From the moment of diagnosis, cancer is a waiting game. (...)
In the meantime, the elephant in the room - the real issue of whether Megrahi was even behind the bombing - has been pushed conveniently to one side.
It is barely mentioned and yet it is the most important issue of all.
Do we really want Megrahi to die when he will take the truth to his grave?
On June 28, 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission completed their investigation, having concluded that there was evidence of a potential miscarriage of justice.
It is more than likely that Megrahi was innocent and, as someone who believes that, I am glad he will spend his dying days at home in Libya. (...)
It is a grave pity that, with all the backroom dealing, his appeal didn't go ahead.
And that's the key, because it was never in the interests of the UK or American governments to have the truth outed in a courtroom.
The US government, who now so piously condemn the release of Megrahi, forget their part in covering up the truth, the witnesses paid off, allegedly, with the authority of the FBI. (...)
If the families of the Lockerbie victims matter at all, why haven't their calls for a full public inquiry into the atrocity been answered?
Instead, they have been lied to and their need for answers has been ignored. What a tragedy. What an utter betrayal.
Pamela Dix, whose brother Peter was killed in the bombing of Pan Am 103, claims the families have "faced years of denials and obfuscation".
Jim Swire, whose beautiful young daughter Flora died in the disaster, is convinced the wrong man was jailed.
At the heart of all of this is not that Megrahi should lose his life but that on Wednesday, December 21, 1988, 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing lost theirs.
Their families deserve to know why they died and, for all the millions thrown at them, that is the only compensation that counts.
Nothing to fear over US call for Megrahi ‘informers’
[This is the headline over a report in today's edition of The Herald. It reads in part:]
Scottish ministers insisted yesterday that they had nothing to fear from a call for “whistleblowers” to reveal fresh evidence about the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
American senators are to appeal for doctors, lawyers and others who may have knowledge of events surrounding his release to come forward.
The politicians, who promise they will protect the identities of would-be informers, believe the information should be made public out of “compassion” for the 270 victims of the bombing.
But the extraordinary call, expected later this week, will mark a further deterioration in transatlantic relations in the run-up to the first anniversary of the release on Friday of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi. (...)
A spokesman for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill insisted that ministers were “not concerned” about the call for whistleblowers.
He said that any extra evidence that emerged would not contradict the Scottish Government’s version of events, adding: “We are not concerned about this at all.”
He also suggested that although two of the senators involved, including Robert Menendez from New Jersey, are members of the Foreign Relations Committee, which is looking into the issue, they increasingly appear to be acting as individual politicians.
“Senator Menendez appears now to be acting on his own account, rather than on behalf of the Foreign Relations Committee,” the spokesman said.
[The Scotsman today runs three Megrahi-related articles. The first, Doctors cast fresh doubt on case for freeing Megrahi is a rehash of the stories that appeared in the Sunday newspapers yesterday. The second, Senator 'misunderstands' says MacAskill deals with the Justice Department reaction to the whistleblowing call. The third, 'We want the truth: who murdered our families?' deals with the letter to editors sent by the Justice for Megrahi campaign.]
Scottish ministers insisted yesterday that they had nothing to fear from a call for “whistleblowers” to reveal fresh evidence about the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
American senators are to appeal for doctors, lawyers and others who may have knowledge of events surrounding his release to come forward.
The politicians, who promise they will protect the identities of would-be informers, believe the information should be made public out of “compassion” for the 270 victims of the bombing.
But the extraordinary call, expected later this week, will mark a further deterioration in transatlantic relations in the run-up to the first anniversary of the release on Friday of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi. (...)
A spokesman for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill insisted that ministers were “not concerned” about the call for whistleblowers.
He said that any extra evidence that emerged would not contradict the Scottish Government’s version of events, adding: “We are not concerned about this at all.”
He also suggested that although two of the senators involved, including Robert Menendez from New Jersey, are members of the Foreign Relations Committee, which is looking into the issue, they increasingly appear to be acting as individual politicians.
“Senator Menendez appears now to be acting on his own account, rather than on behalf of the Foreign Relations Committee,” the spokesman said.
[The Scotsman today runs three Megrahi-related articles. The first, Doctors cast fresh doubt on case for freeing Megrahi is a rehash of the stories that appeared in the Sunday newspapers yesterday. The second, Senator 'misunderstands' says MacAskill deals with the Justice Department reaction to the whistleblowing call. The third, 'We want the truth: who murdered our families?' deals with the letter to editors sent by the Justice for Megrahi campaign.]
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Ex-BP boss Lord Browne did not discuss Lockerbie bomber release
[This is the headline over a report just published on the BBC News website. It reads in part:]
Former BP chief executive Lord Browne has said he never discussed the release of the Lockerbie bomber when he held talks with Libya's leader.
Lord Browne, whose 12 years in charge at BP ended in 2007, said he had met Colonel Gaddafi twice to discuss gas and oil exploration in Libya.
But he told an audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival he had not lobbied the UK government for the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in order to help BP land a deal. (...)
Lord Browne said that the inclusion of Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya and a BP deal to look for oil in the North African country happened after he left the company. (...) [Note by RB: The "deal in the desert" was signed after Lord Browne's departure from BP, but the UK-Libya negotiations that culminated in it commenced in 2003.]
Lord Browne told the Edinburgh audience: "I went to see Gaddafi twice to see if I could negotiate entry to Libya.
"It did not happen but I think I got quite a way forward."
When asked if the release of Megrahi was ever discussed, he said: "Certainly not."
Former BP chief executive Lord Browne has said he never discussed the release of the Lockerbie bomber when he held talks with Libya's leader.
Lord Browne, whose 12 years in charge at BP ended in 2007, said he had met Colonel Gaddafi twice to discuss gas and oil exploration in Libya.
But he told an audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival he had not lobbied the UK government for the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in order to help BP land a deal. (...)
Lord Browne said that the inclusion of Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya and a BP deal to look for oil in the North African country happened after he left the company. (...) [Note by RB: The "deal in the desert" was signed after Lord Browne's departure from BP, but the UK-Libya negotiations that culminated in it commenced in 2003.]
Lord Browne told the Edinburgh audience: "I went to see Gaddafi twice to see if I could negotiate entry to Libya.
"It did not happen but I think I got quite a way forward."
When asked if the release of Megrahi was ever discussed, he said: "Certainly not."
Senators to issue whistleblower call over Megrahi
[This is the headline over a report in today's edition of Scotland on Sunday. It reads in part:]
US senators will this week bypass the UK and Scottish governments to issue a public call for "whistleblowers" to come forward with fresh evidence about the Lockerbie case, a year on from the controversial release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
Scottish lawyers and doctors with knowledge of Megrahi's case are among those being urged to step forward by the team of four US senators conducting an inquiry into the release of the convicted bomber.
The team is also calling on insiders with knowledge of the UK Government's trade links to Libya - including arms deals with the Gaddafi regime - to reveal any evidence they were linked to Megrahi's return home.
The move was last night interpreted as another example of US interference in the decisions made by the Scottish Government, which allowed the 58-year-old Libyan intelligence officer to return home last summer after ministers received reports saying he had just three months to live.
One SNP source said: "This is all just about their own politics. They have their elections coming and they are just trying to show they're doing something."
Christine Grahame, an SNP MSP, said: "I would be much happier if, rather than doing this they [the senators] would simply call for a UN inquiry into all matters in Lockerbie, where all the evidence was laid out. That way the senators would sleep a lot better in their beds at night."
The internet appeal, to be made public later this week, comes with the bomber, who is suffering from prostate cancer, preparing to mark a year of freedom back in Libya. (...)
In further revelations today:
• SNP ministers say they would be happy to support an international inquiry into the Lockerbie case, amid fresh calls for a investigation into his conviction.
• Megrahi says he wants all papers relating to his aborted appeal to be made public and says he would have released his own documentation if the Crown Office in Scotland and police also agreed to do so.
• Senators have again asked Foreign Secretary William Hague to examine whether potentially lucrative arms deals between the UK and Libya played a factor in the UK's approach to Megrahi's case.
[The readers' comments that follow the story are well worth reading. I wonder whether the senators' whistleblowing call will be endorsed by Labour and Conservative politicians in Scotland? Given their shameful track-record on this issue, it really would not surprise me.
An editorial in Scotland on Sunday headed "A kooks' charter" contains the following:]
Scots will be bemused this week by the appeal by the four US senators conducting an inquiry into the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for whistleblowers to come forward and furnish information about the case.
This is an invitation to every conspiracy theorist to air his views; it is a kooks' charter - perhaps the senators should advertise in the Fortean Times. (...)
Asking for whistleblowers to divulge the UK intelligence community's perspective on Megrahi's release sounds like an attempt to suborn British security services personnel. How would the senators like it if a British parliamentary committee asked CIA staff to reveal sensitive information?
The undertaking that the source of any information will not be disclosed unless permission is given discredits the exercise. What kind of transparency does that bring to an inquiry? We should have been spared this farcical initiative by a group of US politicians who appear to be acting disingenuously. This is not the way to proceed.
US senators will this week bypass the UK and Scottish governments to issue a public call for "whistleblowers" to come forward with fresh evidence about the Lockerbie case, a year on from the controversial release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
Scottish lawyers and doctors with knowledge of Megrahi's case are among those being urged to step forward by the team of four US senators conducting an inquiry into the release of the convicted bomber.
The team is also calling on insiders with knowledge of the UK Government's trade links to Libya - including arms deals with the Gaddafi regime - to reveal any evidence they were linked to Megrahi's return home.
The move was last night interpreted as another example of US interference in the decisions made by the Scottish Government, which allowed the 58-year-old Libyan intelligence officer to return home last summer after ministers received reports saying he had just three months to live.
One SNP source said: "This is all just about their own politics. They have their elections coming and they are just trying to show they're doing something."
Christine Grahame, an SNP MSP, said: "I would be much happier if, rather than doing this they [the senators] would simply call for a UN inquiry into all matters in Lockerbie, where all the evidence was laid out. That way the senators would sleep a lot better in their beds at night."
The internet appeal, to be made public later this week, comes with the bomber, who is suffering from prostate cancer, preparing to mark a year of freedom back in Libya. (...)
In further revelations today:
• SNP ministers say they would be happy to support an international inquiry into the Lockerbie case, amid fresh calls for a investigation into his conviction.
• Megrahi says he wants all papers relating to his aborted appeal to be made public and says he would have released his own documentation if the Crown Office in Scotland and police also agreed to do so.
• Senators have again asked Foreign Secretary William Hague to examine whether potentially lucrative arms deals between the UK and Libya played a factor in the UK's approach to Megrahi's case.
[The readers' comments that follow the story are well worth reading. I wonder whether the senators' whistleblowing call will be endorsed by Labour and Conservative politicians in Scotland? Given their shameful track-record on this issue, it really would not surprise me.
An editorial in Scotland on Sunday headed "A kooks' charter" contains the following:]
Scots will be bemused this week by the appeal by the four US senators conducting an inquiry into the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for whistleblowers to come forward and furnish information about the case.
This is an invitation to every conspiracy theorist to air his views; it is a kooks' charter - perhaps the senators should advertise in the Fortean Times. (...)
Asking for whistleblowers to divulge the UK intelligence community's perspective on Megrahi's release sounds like an attempt to suborn British security services personnel. How would the senators like it if a British parliamentary committee asked CIA staff to reveal sensitive information?
The undertaking that the source of any information will not be disclosed unless permission is given discredits the exercise. What kind of transparency does that bring to an inquiry? We should have been spared this farcical initiative by a group of US politicians who appear to be acting disingenuously. This is not the way to proceed.
Group wants Lockerbie case review
[This is the headline over a report on the Big On Glasgow website. It describes the letter to editors recently sent out by the Justice for Megrahi campaign and concludes with the following quotation from Dr Jim Swire:]
“Let’s stop pretending that what matters is the process running up to the release. What matters is what he is guilty of.
“As I see it, international politicians handed the job of investigation and trial to Scotland. Scotland’s most responsible body decided there may have been a miscarriage of justice. That’s what Megrahi’s appeal was starting to do.
“I don’t know why he dropped the appeal. But Scotland is leaning on the edge of a precipice. Following Megrahi’s return home, there is no vehicle being used to re-examine responsibly the evidence that lead to the conviction. I’m talking here as a relative. What we want is the truth: who murdered our families?”
[A report on the website of the Morning Star reads in part:]
A group seeking the "truth" over the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber revealed on Sunday its plans to use Friday's one-year anniversary of his release to demand a fresh review of the evidence.
Campaigners who believe Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was unfairly convicted argued that the issues surrounding his release on compassionate grounds - he is suffering from terminal cancer - were a red herring.
Mr Megrahi is suffering from terminal cancer.
Campaign group Justice for Megrahi is leading calls for a public inquiry into the entire affair and has now written an open letter to scores of influential people, including US senators, British politicians and those in the media and legal system, to argue the case. (...)
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the case to the Court of Appeal.
But Mr Megrahi effectively closed that avenue by dropping his appeal against conviction shortly before he was released by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill on compassionate grounds.
Justice for Megrahi now wants an inquiry into the downing of Pan Am flight 103 which killed 270 people in 1988, the police investigation, the trial at Kamp van Zeist, the conviction and the dropping of the appeal.
“Let’s stop pretending that what matters is the process running up to the release. What matters is what he is guilty of.
“As I see it, international politicians handed the job of investigation and trial to Scotland. Scotland’s most responsible body decided there may have been a miscarriage of justice. That’s what Megrahi’s appeal was starting to do.
“I don’t know why he dropped the appeal. But Scotland is leaning on the edge of a precipice. Following Megrahi’s return home, there is no vehicle being used to re-examine responsibly the evidence that lead to the conviction. I’m talking here as a relative. What we want is the truth: who murdered our families?”
[A report on the website of the Morning Star reads in part:]
A group seeking the "truth" over the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber revealed on Sunday its plans to use Friday's one-year anniversary of his release to demand a fresh review of the evidence.
Campaigners who believe Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was unfairly convicted argued that the issues surrounding his release on compassionate grounds - he is suffering from terminal cancer - were a red herring.
Mr Megrahi is suffering from terminal cancer.
Campaign group Justice for Megrahi is leading calls for a public inquiry into the entire affair and has now written an open letter to scores of influential people, including US senators, British politicians and those in the media and legal system, to argue the case. (...)
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the case to the Court of Appeal.
But Mr Megrahi effectively closed that avenue by dropping his appeal against conviction shortly before he was released by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill on compassionate grounds.
Justice for Megrahi now wants an inquiry into the downing of Pan Am flight 103 which killed 270 people in 1988, the police investigation, the trial at Kamp van Zeist, the conviction and the dropping of the appeal.
Prison doctor who played key role in release of the Lockerbie bomber had no specialist cancer knowledge
[This is the headline over a report in today's edition of The Sunday Telegraph. It reads in part:]
Dr Peter Kay, who until now has only been identified by the Scottish Government as an unnamed "primary care physician" of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi's, provided a crucial medical report which led to the conclusion that the prisoner was likely to have three months, or less, to live. (...)
This newspaper can also disclose that American senators investigating Megrahi's release will this week launch an unprecedented request for British "whistle-blowers" to disclose details about the decision to free the Lockerbie bomber. The appeal is a remarkable sign of US-British rifts as it indicates that US investigators do not believe they are obtaining the full story from politicians in London and Edinburgh. (...)
Dr Kay, the prison doctor, when approached at his home in Scotland, initially denied that he was formerly the doctor at HM Prison Greenock, where Megrahi was serving his life sentence. However, he later said: "You'll be aware of the hypocratic [sic] oath [on patient confidentiality]? I just can't say anything."
The GP was a key contributor to medical evidence supplied to Dr Andrew Fraser, the director of health and care of the Scottish Prison Service, who in turn drew up the report upon which Mr MacAskill's decision was reached.
Dr Kay trained at Glasgow University and became a qualified doctor in 1998. During his time at Greenock Prison, which ended earlier this year, he is understood to have combined his role as the part-time prison doctor with work as a local GP.
According to the General Medical Council, which contains information on all qualified doctors, he has been registered as a GP since 2006 and he is not on any specialist register. (...)
A spokesman for the Scottish Government refused to confirm that Dr Kay was the prison doctor involved in the assessment. However, he said: "It was Dr Andrew Fraser, Director of Health and Care of the Scottish Prison Service, who concluded in his report to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that his clinical assessment was that a three month prognosis was a reasonable estimate.
"Dr Fraser is a professional of unimpeachable integrity. It was his professional responsibility to provide the clinical assessment of al-Megrahi's condition, and his report, which has been published by the Scottish Government, was the only medical report submitted to the Justice Secretary – along with the reports of the Parole Board and Prison Governor, which also supported a compassionate release decision.
"Dr Fraser drew on expert advice from a number of cancer specialists in coming to his clinical assessment that a three month prognosis was a reasonable estimate for al-Megrahi – it was not based on the opinion of any one doctor.
"These specialists included two consultant oncologists, two consultant urologists and a number of other specialists, including a palliative care team, and Mr al-Megrahi's primary care physician."
[A report on the website of the Agence France Presse news agency headed "Experts not consulted over Lockerbie bomber's release" contains statements from certain of the consultants to the effect that Dr Andrew Fraser's three-month assessment was made without consultation with them. They state clearly, however, that they would not have given a prognosis of the length of Mr Megrahi's survival. As I have said on numerous occasions on this blog, that is precisely why estimating the length of a patient's survival is invariably a matter for his GP, reaching the best conclusion that he can on the basis of the consultants' reports. That is exactly what Drs Fraser and Kay appear to have done in this case.
Today's edition of The Observer runs an interview with the egregious Professor Karol Sikora, headed "Al-Megrahi's doctor: 'I just provided an opinion. Someone else let him go free'". An Associated Press news agency report also has extensive quotations from him. Professor Sikora's increasingly frantic attempts to distance himself are become tiresome. The Scottish Government has already stated clearly that his opinion, and that of the other specialists engaged by Libya, played no part in Kenny MacAskill's decision.
Incidentally, I give full marks to Dr Kay for sending doorstepping Telegraph journalists away with fleas in their ear. His reference to the Hippocratic oath is entirely to the point. I wonder whether the other doctors who are talking to journalists have heard of it or (unlike Telegraph reporters and sub-editors) can spell it.
A regular commentator on this blog has made a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission about The Sunday Telegraph's disclosure of the identity of Dr Kay.]
Dr Peter Kay, who until now has only been identified by the Scottish Government as an unnamed "primary care physician" of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi's, provided a crucial medical report which led to the conclusion that the prisoner was likely to have three months, or less, to live. (...)
This newspaper can also disclose that American senators investigating Megrahi's release will this week launch an unprecedented request for British "whistle-blowers" to disclose details about the decision to free the Lockerbie bomber. The appeal is a remarkable sign of US-British rifts as it indicates that US investigators do not believe they are obtaining the full story from politicians in London and Edinburgh. (...)
Dr Kay, the prison doctor, when approached at his home in Scotland, initially denied that he was formerly the doctor at HM Prison Greenock, where Megrahi was serving his life sentence. However, he later said: "You'll be aware of the hypocratic [sic] oath [on patient confidentiality]? I just can't say anything."
The GP was a key contributor to medical evidence supplied to Dr Andrew Fraser, the director of health and care of the Scottish Prison Service, who in turn drew up the report upon which Mr MacAskill's decision was reached.
Dr Kay trained at Glasgow University and became a qualified doctor in 1998. During his time at Greenock Prison, which ended earlier this year, he is understood to have combined his role as the part-time prison doctor with work as a local GP.
According to the General Medical Council, which contains information on all qualified doctors, he has been registered as a GP since 2006 and he is not on any specialist register. (...)
A spokesman for the Scottish Government refused to confirm that Dr Kay was the prison doctor involved in the assessment. However, he said: "It was Dr Andrew Fraser, Director of Health and Care of the Scottish Prison Service, who concluded in his report to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that his clinical assessment was that a three month prognosis was a reasonable estimate.
"Dr Fraser is a professional of unimpeachable integrity. It was his professional responsibility to provide the clinical assessment of al-Megrahi's condition, and his report, which has been published by the Scottish Government, was the only medical report submitted to the Justice Secretary – along with the reports of the Parole Board and Prison Governor, which also supported a compassionate release decision.
"Dr Fraser drew on expert advice from a number of cancer specialists in coming to his clinical assessment that a three month prognosis was a reasonable estimate for al-Megrahi – it was not based on the opinion of any one doctor.
"These specialists included two consultant oncologists, two consultant urologists and a number of other specialists, including a palliative care team, and Mr al-Megrahi's primary care physician."
[A report on the website of the Agence France Presse news agency headed "Experts not consulted over Lockerbie bomber's release" contains statements from certain of the consultants to the effect that Dr Andrew Fraser's three-month assessment was made without consultation with them. They state clearly, however, that they would not have given a prognosis of the length of Mr Megrahi's survival. As I have said on numerous occasions on this blog, that is precisely why estimating the length of a patient's survival is invariably a matter for his GP, reaching the best conclusion that he can on the basis of the consultants' reports. That is exactly what Drs Fraser and Kay appear to have done in this case.
Today's edition of The Observer runs an interview with the egregious Professor Karol Sikora, headed "Al-Megrahi's doctor: 'I just provided an opinion. Someone else let him go free'". An Associated Press news agency report also has extensive quotations from him. Professor Sikora's increasingly frantic attempts to distance himself are become tiresome. The Scottish Government has already stated clearly that his opinion, and that of the other specialists engaged by Libya, played no part in Kenny MacAskill's decision.
Incidentally, I give full marks to Dr Kay for sending doorstepping Telegraph journalists away with fleas in their ear. His reference to the Hippocratic oath is entirely to the point. I wonder whether the other doctors who are talking to journalists have heard of it or (unlike Telegraph reporters and sub-editors) can spell it.
A regular commentator on this blog has made a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission about The Sunday Telegraph's disclosure of the identity of Dr Kay.]
Saturday, 14 August 2010
Lockerbie - A demand for a full public inquiry
This is the headline over a report on the influential, must-read Newsnet Scotland website, in which the Justice for Megrahi letter to editors is reproduced.
Interview with "Lockerbie: Unfinished Business" actor-writer David Benson
Fest, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe magazine, features a long interview with David Benson. The following are excerpts:]
Flora Swire boarded a Boeing 747-100 named Clipper Maid of the Seas at London Heathrow. On 21 December 1988—the day before her 24th birthday—she was travelling to New York to spend Christmas with her American boyfriend Hart Lidov. Earlier that year she had graduated in medicine with a first-class degree and top of her class.
There was no touch-down at JFK. At 7.03pm, 30,000 feet above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, a bomb exploded on board ripping through the aircraft's fuselage. PanAm Flight 103 gradually disintegrated over two horrific minutes before impact on Sherwood Crescent creating a large crater and destroying homes. There were 270 fatalities.
Since the disaster, Flora's father Dr Jim Swire has fought to bring those responsible for the Lockerbie bombings to justice. Now he's now the focus of a play by writer and actor David Benson. (...)
“I was doing some research online on the subject of Lockerbie, idly browsing news stories, and I came across the website of Dr Jim Swire. I saw he had written a book—as yet unpublished—giving his account of what had happened, written with a co-researcher, Peter Biddulph.”
“They had a note saying to leave your email address if you'd like to know when the book is published. So I sent them an email and had a message back very quickly from Biddulph saying 'I see that you're an actor and you write one-man shows. Perhaps you'd be interested in having a look at this unpublished text and seeing if there's anything you can do with it'.”
Even though the topic was not on his agenda, Benson replied. “I would love to read it anyway so he sent me a copy of it and I was absolutely transfixed.” Fascinated by Dr Swire's traumatic journey, his campaign of enormous courage, and his anger and grief at the loss of his daughter, Benson spent months reading up on the subject and secured a rare 90-minute meeting with Swire. “He answered every question I had. Thoroughly as he always does. And I felt able to go away and write a script that would tell his story and tell things that maybe he can't tell.” (...)
When I ask Benson, now 48, if constructing his play has been emotional, he reveals it has generated anger above all else. He blames governments for “doing everything they could do block the Lockerbie relatives' path to justice. They had many reasons for not wanting the true story coming out and they very cynically produced a cover story that these Libyans were supposed to have done it. That is a horrendous, sickening insult to the grief of the people who are still seeking justice.”
Yet behind Benson's anger is deep sympathy for his subject, something he is not accustomed to finding in his work: “When I look at Dr Swire's story and realising how much he's lost, understanding the depth of his grief that I sometimes find it quite overwhelming in even speaking the lines I've written myself.
“He goes from being very formal and in control, giving out this information fact by fact about what happened, and then once in a while having to admit that his beautiful lovely daughter who he adored is dead, died in a horrible way and that he will never see her again. I think it's impossible not to be touched by that, and also to realise one has an awesome responsibility in telling that story to get it right. Because you're dealing with some of the deepest human emotions.”
[Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is at the Gilded Balloon Teviot until 30 August (not 18) 2:30pm – 3:40pm]
Flora Swire boarded a Boeing 747-100 named Clipper Maid of the Seas at London Heathrow. On 21 December 1988—the day before her 24th birthday—she was travelling to New York to spend Christmas with her American boyfriend Hart Lidov. Earlier that year she had graduated in medicine with a first-class degree and top of her class.
There was no touch-down at JFK. At 7.03pm, 30,000 feet above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, a bomb exploded on board ripping through the aircraft's fuselage. PanAm Flight 103 gradually disintegrated over two horrific minutes before impact on Sherwood Crescent creating a large crater and destroying homes. There were 270 fatalities.
Since the disaster, Flora's father Dr Jim Swire has fought to bring those responsible for the Lockerbie bombings to justice. Now he's now the focus of a play by writer and actor David Benson. (...)
“I was doing some research online on the subject of Lockerbie, idly browsing news stories, and I came across the website of Dr Jim Swire. I saw he had written a book—as yet unpublished—giving his account of what had happened, written with a co-researcher, Peter Biddulph.”
“They had a note saying to leave your email address if you'd like to know when the book is published. So I sent them an email and had a message back very quickly from Biddulph saying 'I see that you're an actor and you write one-man shows. Perhaps you'd be interested in having a look at this unpublished text and seeing if there's anything you can do with it'.”
Even though the topic was not on his agenda, Benson replied. “I would love to read it anyway so he sent me a copy of it and I was absolutely transfixed.” Fascinated by Dr Swire's traumatic journey, his campaign of enormous courage, and his anger and grief at the loss of his daughter, Benson spent months reading up on the subject and secured a rare 90-minute meeting with Swire. “He answered every question I had. Thoroughly as he always does. And I felt able to go away and write a script that would tell his story and tell things that maybe he can't tell.” (...)
When I ask Benson, now 48, if constructing his play has been emotional, he reveals it has generated anger above all else. He blames governments for “doing everything they could do block the Lockerbie relatives' path to justice. They had many reasons for not wanting the true story coming out and they very cynically produced a cover story that these Libyans were supposed to have done it. That is a horrendous, sickening insult to the grief of the people who are still seeking justice.”
Yet behind Benson's anger is deep sympathy for his subject, something he is not accustomed to finding in his work: “When I look at Dr Swire's story and realising how much he's lost, understanding the depth of his grief that I sometimes find it quite overwhelming in even speaking the lines I've written myself.
“He goes from being very formal and in control, giving out this information fact by fact about what happened, and then once in a while having to admit that his beautiful lovely daughter who he adored is dead, died in a horrible way and that he will never see her again. I think it's impossible not to be touched by that, and also to realise one has an awesome responsibility in telling that story to get it right. Because you're dealing with some of the deepest human emotions.”
[Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is at the Gilded Balloon Teviot until 30 August (not 18) 2:30pm – 3:40pm]
Friday, 13 August 2010
Daily Mail "miracle cure drug" nonsense
The Mail website is running a story headlined "Bomber freed to die is now being given 'miracle cure' drug: Treatment could add 18 months to his life".
The drug in question is Taxotere which, in some cancer patients, can prolong life for a few months. It is not a miracle cure, but since when has anyone expected accuracy to be a consideration for a Daily Mail headline writer?
Three paragraphs from the long story read:
"Although the gruelling treatment is 'going well', according to the [anonymous Tripoli] source, it has left Megrahi feeling depressed. He also complains of black moods because of the negative way his case has been portrayed around the world, and especially in Britain and America.
"Megrahi has always maintained his innocence of Britain's worst ever terrorist atrocity, believing he will one day prove this beyond doubt.
"The source in Tripoli said: 'His number one aim is to prove he had nothing to do with the Lockerbie bombing, and this is the reason he is putting so much effort into regaining his health.'"
The drug in question is Taxotere which, in some cancer patients, can prolong life for a few months. It is not a miracle cure, but since when has anyone expected accuracy to be a consideration for a Daily Mail headline writer?
Three paragraphs from the long story read:
"Although the gruelling treatment is 'going well', according to the [anonymous Tripoli] source, it has left Megrahi feeling depressed. He also complains of black moods because of the negative way his case has been portrayed around the world, and especially in Britain and America.
"Megrahi has always maintained his innocence of Britain's worst ever terrorist atrocity, believing he will one day prove this beyond doubt.
"The source in Tripoli said: 'His number one aim is to prove he had nothing to do with the Lockerbie bombing, and this is the reason he is putting so much effort into regaining his health.'"
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