[This is the headline over a report published today by the Reuters news agency. It reads in part:]
Two senior officials under late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi went on trial on Monday accused of wasting public money by facilitating a compensation payment of more than $2 billion to families of those killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
The trial of the two men - former Foreign Minister Abdel-Ati al-Obeidi and former Secretary General of the General People's Congress [RB: and Libyan ambassador in London following restoration of diplomatic relations in 2001] Mohammed Zwai - was swiftly adjourned to give their legal team more time to prepare.
Zwai was the head of the legislature under Gaddafi, who was overthrown after an uprising last year and later killed.
Libya's new rulers, who aim to draw up a democratic constitution, are keen to try Gaddafi's family members and loyalists to show the country's citizens that those who helped Gaddafi stay in power for 42 years are being punished.
But human rights activists fret a weak central government and a relative lack of rule of law mean legal proceedings will not meet international standards.
The two men's appearance in the dock - 14 months after they were arrested - was brief.
"I refute these charges against me," Zwai told the court. Obedi also denied the charges.
The judge, whose name was not given, read out the charges against the duo, saying they were accused of arranging compensation worth $2.7 billion for the families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing to try to get them to drop charges against Libya.
The 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie in Scotland killed 270 people. Libyan Abdel Basset al-Meghrahi, who always denied involvement in downing the jet, was convicted of the bombing. He was released from jail in 2009 amid huge controversy in Britain and died of cancer in May.
Most but not all of the compensation was paid out by Libya on condition that U.N. sanctions against it were cancelled and U.S. trade sanctions against it lifted.
The judge said the two men's action was a crime because "the compensation was a waste of public money especially when there was no guarantee the charges in the Lockerbie case would be dropped if the compensation was made".
The judge adjourned the men's trial until October 15 after Mustafa Kishlaf, the defense lawyer, said he needed access to certain files and more time to study the case.
On Sunday, war-time interim Justice Minister Mohammed Al-Alagy told reporters that the current trials of Gaddafi-era officials were "invalid" because the prosecutor general's office was not following the necessary legal steps.
Under Libyan law, the Indictment Chamber reviews cases and then refers them to the appropriate court. But Alagy said prosecutors were bypassing this body and demanded they review their procedures and the legality of those held in custody.
Buzeid Dorda, a former intelligence chief and the first former senior official from the Gaddafi era to be put on trial in Libya, said in July he had been denied the right to meet privately with a lawyer and had been subjected to illegal interrogations during his 10 months in detention.
His trial, which began on June 5, has been adjourned several times since for procedural reasons.
[A report on the Libyan Mathaba website contains the following:]
The Tripoli Appeals Court today Monday postponed the trial of senior officials of the derailed Jamahiriya to consider the issue of the defendants Mohammed Abu El-Gassem Yusuf al-Zwai, Secretary of the General People's Congress of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and Abdulati Ibrahim Muhammad al-Obeidi, Secretary of External Communications at the Congress until the 15th October at the request of their lawyers.
This was followed by the trial judge citing charges against the two accused, by the public prosecutor for first in 2004 as public officials for harming public money by granting compensation to the families of the victims of the Pan Am flight 103 "Lockerbie" case, of over two thousand seven hundred million dollars (2.7 billion), exceeded the ceiling granted to them in a weak and fake case, since Libya was not responsible.
The second charge concerned treason of the suspects in taking part in negotiations with the lawyers of the families of the victims and agreeing to pay the compensation in exchange for the lifting of the unjust sanctions imposed upon Libya, instead of demanding compensation for those sanctions, which is still outstanding, and to remove Libya from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, while knowing that lawyers are not authorised to negotiate the conditions mentioned above by the US administration, which resulted in harm to the public money as applicable in the articles 2/9 of Law No. 2 of 1979 on economic crimes and articles 183 and 76 of the Penal Code.
Both the accused during the hearing rejected charges brought against them by the trial judge, and asked their defense counsel for for the copies of some papers and documents of the court with a request for the release of those documents, which was met by an objection by the prosecution. The court decided in its second public meeting today to defer consideration of the charges at the request of the defendants to give them more time so as to enable the defense lawers to interview their clients in accordance with legal procedures applicable and to see all documents permitted.
[Further information regarding the Lockerbie role of Obeidi can be found on this blog here; of Zwai here; and of Dorda here.]
Monday, 10 September 2012
Where's Moussa?
[This is the heading on an item posted on Saturday on bensix’s Back Towards the Locus blog. It reads as follows:]
Abdullah al-Senussi, head of intelligence for Gaddafi at the time of the Lockerbie bombing, has been extradited back to Libya from Mauritania. The papers are damned excited by the prospect of his being interviewed in connection with the atrocity. I am, of course, convinced that we’ve seen no good evidence that Al Megrahi or his countrymen were involved but that doesn’t mean that none exists so I hope he’s spoken to. I’ve got to ask, though: where’s Moussa Koussa? You know. Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief. The man that we were told knew the truth of Lockerbie. The man we had within our shores but who then pissed off to Qatar without a charge being filed. It seems probable that some kind of deal was struck – perhaps because of his previous work with intelligence services in capturing and allegedly abusing terror suspects – but why are none of the journalists who claimed he was a latter-day Hess at all intrigued?
[The saga of Moussa Koussa can be followed on this blog here.]
Abdullah al-Senussi, head of intelligence for Gaddafi at the time of the Lockerbie bombing, has been extradited back to Libya from Mauritania. The papers are damned excited by the prospect of his being interviewed in connection with the atrocity. I am, of course, convinced that we’ve seen no good evidence that Al Megrahi or his countrymen were involved but that doesn’t mean that none exists so I hope he’s spoken to. I’ve got to ask, though: where’s Moussa Koussa? You know. Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief. The man that we were told knew the truth of Lockerbie. The man we had within our shores but who then pissed off to Qatar without a charge being filed. It seems probable that some kind of deal was struck – perhaps because of his previous work with intelligence services in capturing and allegedly abusing terror suspects – but why are none of the journalists who claimed he was a latter-day Hess at all intrigued?
[The saga of Moussa Koussa can be followed on this blog here.]
David Miliband on Megrahi
"Al-Megrahi was the man behind the bombing," and "Al-Megrahi's release [in the Lockerbie bombing case] was obviously wrong," says former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband in an interview on Aljazeera English.
Mr Miliband has clearly not read John Ashton’s Megrahi: You are my Jury or Dr Morag Kerr’s Lockerbie: Fact and Fiction or watched Aljazeera’s documentary Lockerbie: Case Closed.
Until now David Miliband’s best-known contribution to the Lockerbie case was his signing of a public interest immunity (PII) certificate in the context of Abdelbaset Megrahi’s second appeal in an attempt to prevent disclosure of a document (relating to timers) that had been in the hands of the Crown since 1996 (before the Lockerbie trial) but which was never divulged to the defence (as the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission believes it should have been). His conduct in this matter was the subject of an editorial in the Sunday Herald headlined Miliband has made Lockerbie appeal a mockery of justice.
Mr Miliband has clearly not read John Ashton’s Megrahi: You are my Jury or Dr Morag Kerr’s Lockerbie: Fact and Fiction or watched Aljazeera’s documentary Lockerbie: Case Closed.
Until now David Miliband’s best-known contribution to the Lockerbie case was his signing of a public interest immunity (PII) certificate in the context of Abdelbaset Megrahi’s second appeal in an attempt to prevent disclosure of a document (relating to timers) that had been in the hands of the Crown since 1996 (before the Lockerbie trial) but which was never divulged to the defence (as the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission believes it should have been). His conduct in this matter was the subject of an editorial in the Sunday Herald headlined Miliband has made Lockerbie appeal a mockery of justice.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
A step closer to justice
[This is the headline over a report in today’s edition of the Maltese newspaper The Times. It reads in part:]
Abdullah al-Senussi was Muammar Gaddafi’s right-hand man, a spy chief and executioner, but he returned to Libya as a man under arrest this week.
The news of his extradition from Mauritania, where he fled during the conflict that toppled the Gaddafi regime last year, was welcomed by Libyans living in Malta.
Abdalla Kablan believes that putting Mr Senussi on trial for the crimes he committed will provide some form of closure for the families of his victims.
“They can at least feel that their children can rest in peace because the man who inflicted the suffering will face the consequences of his crimes,” Dr Kablan said. (...)
He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in last year’s civil war and Libya’s decision to try him at home has raised question marks about the country’s ability to deliver a fair trial.
It is a concern expressed by Jim Swire, a British doctor and the father of Flora, one of the victims in the Lockerbie Pan-Am bombing in 1988.
Dr Swire has long maintained that Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the Lockerbie bombing, was innocent. Mr Megrahi died last May.
“Senussi is potentially a key figure who knows a lot and I would have preferred him being tried in front of the ICC because Libyan politicians are now very keen to blame everything on (Muammar) Gaddafi to clear their country’s name,” Dr Swire told The Times.
Mr Senussi had a lot to answer for the crimes he committed, Dr Swire added, but trying him in Libya risked distorting the truth.
The US and British governments believe that Mr Senussi may have orchestrated the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. Meanwhile France also wants to question him in connection with the bombing of a UTA passenger plane in 1989.
The architect of the original Lockerbie trial, Robert Black, was cynical over whether Mr Senussi could shed light on the 1988 tragedy.
“His extradition to Libya could help the Lockerbie inquiry, say most of the media today. Probably just as much as (former Foreign Affairs Minister) Moussa Koussa did, I say. And wouldn’t it be nice if there really were a Lockerbie inquiry, and not just a pretend one?
“The trouble is that the investigators’ minds are so closed that they just wouldn’t believe Senussi if he cleared Megrahi’s name.”
Dr Kablan believes this is a chance for Libya to show the world it has changed and criminals will now face justice in a functioning legal system.
Abdullah al-Senussi was Muammar Gaddafi’s right-hand man, a spy chief and executioner, but he returned to Libya as a man under arrest this week.
The news of his extradition from Mauritania, where he fled during the conflict that toppled the Gaddafi regime last year, was welcomed by Libyans living in Malta.
Abdalla Kablan believes that putting Mr Senussi on trial for the crimes he committed will provide some form of closure for the families of his victims.
“They can at least feel that their children can rest in peace because the man who inflicted the suffering will face the consequences of his crimes,” Dr Kablan said. (...)
He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in last year’s civil war and Libya’s decision to try him at home has raised question marks about the country’s ability to deliver a fair trial.
It is a concern expressed by Jim Swire, a British doctor and the father of Flora, one of the victims in the Lockerbie Pan-Am bombing in 1988.
Dr Swire has long maintained that Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the Lockerbie bombing, was innocent. Mr Megrahi died last May.
“Senussi is potentially a key figure who knows a lot and I would have preferred him being tried in front of the ICC because Libyan politicians are now very keen to blame everything on (Muammar) Gaddafi to clear their country’s name,” Dr Swire told The Times.
Mr Senussi had a lot to answer for the crimes he committed, Dr Swire added, but trying him in Libya risked distorting the truth.
The US and British governments believe that Mr Senussi may have orchestrated the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. Meanwhile France also wants to question him in connection with the bombing of a UTA passenger plane in 1989.
The architect of the original Lockerbie trial, Robert Black, was cynical over whether Mr Senussi could shed light on the 1988 tragedy.
“His extradition to Libya could help the Lockerbie inquiry, say most of the media today. Probably just as much as (former Foreign Affairs Minister) Moussa Koussa did, I say. And wouldn’t it be nice if there really were a Lockerbie inquiry, and not just a pretend one?
“The trouble is that the investigators’ minds are so closed that they just wouldn’t believe Senussi if he cleared Megrahi’s name.”
Dr Kablan believes this is a chance for Libya to show the world it has changed and criminals will now face justice in a functioning legal system.
Friday, 7 September 2012
Silence for the dead of Lockerbie
[This is the heading over an article posted recently on the Lockerbie Truth website of Dr Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph. It reads as follows:]
It is now almost six months since the revelation in John Ashton's book (Megrahi: You are my Jury: The Lockerbie Evidence) that the key evidence on which Baset Al-Megrahi was convicted can no longer be scientifically sustained.
And yet there remains a deafening silence on the part of the judges and Crown Office officials responsible for the investigation and conviction of Al-Megrahi.
The two main planks on which the prosecution's case was founded are:
1. A Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci, identified Al-Megrahi as the stranger who had, shortly before the December 1988 bombing, bought clothes in his shop.
2. A fragment of an electronic timer board found at Lockerbie came from a batch of twenty sold to Libya in 1985 by Swiss electronics company MEBO.
1. The Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, during their own three-year investigation of the case, found six grounds for concluding that "a miscarriage of justice may have occurred".
One of the SCCRC's grounds was their discovery of a series of entries in the police diary of chief Dumfries and Galloway police investigator Harry Bell.
Bell recorded from the first days of his investigation that huge offers of reward were available from the United States to principal identification witness Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci.
In a letter sent by Dana Biehl of the US Department of Justice, it was explained that Gauci would receive "unlimited monies, with $10,000 available immediately" if Al-Megrahi was convicted.
Bell's police diary, and all knowledge of this offer and negotiations concerning the offer, were concealed from the trial and first appeal. The judges who convicted Al-Megrahi were unaware of these matters when they concluded that Gauci was a totally reliable witness.
Gauci's final and conclusive identification of Al-Megrahi took place during a police identity parade.
Yet Gauci could not fail to identify the man, since he had possessed for several weeks a copy of a magazine with a colour photo of Al-Megrahi, in which the Libyan was described as "the bomber".
2. The fragment of electronic timer board
It was upon this item that the entire case against Al-Megrahi would turn. In the minds of the judges it proved the Libyan connection, since the evidence appeared to show that it came from a batch sold to Libya in 1985.
It had - according to the available evidence - been manufactured by Swiss company Thuring, on behalf of electronics supplier MEBO. It seemed to be a "golden thread" linking Al-Megrahi to the bomb.
In 2008 the Al-Megrahi defence team discovered an extraordinary anomaly, one which had escaped the attention of the prosecution team, the Scottish Crown Office, and the Scottish police. It concerned the silver-like protective coating on the fragment, which covered the copper circuitry in order to prevent oxidisation.
A hand-written note by the government's chief forensic scientist Alan Feraday had recorded the protective coating as "100% tin".
Feraday's records also showed that he was aware of the difference between the Lockerbie fragment and the coating upon a control sample supplied to the police as part of their investigation. The control sample - manufactured by Swiss company Thuring - contained a 70/30% alloy of tin and lead.
The prosecution and police mistake was to speculate that the heat of the Lockerbie explosion had entirely evaporated the lead content. But no follow-up investigations in order to test this theory were carried out.
During the trial, the judges and defence team were unaware of the anomaly and accepted the provenance of the fragment from the metallurgical point of view.
When in 2008 the defence team checked with Thuring, it emerged that all timer boards made by that company throughout the 1980's were coated with an alloy mixture of 70% tin and 30% lead. Indeed, Thuring had always made, and continue to make, boards with a 70/30% alloy.
In 2008 the Thuring production manager swore an affidavit to this effect and was scheduled to repeat his evidence in Al-Megrahi's second appeal, abandoned in 2009.
Having discovered the anomaly, the defence team commissioned two highly experienced and reputable scientists to investigate the matter. In a series of experiments carried out at separate laboratories, the scientists tested the theory of evaporation of lead content by high temperatures.
In all cases, the lead did not evaporate. Thus they established beyond all reasonable doubt that the fragment found at Lockerbie could not have come from any of the timers sold to Libya by MEBO.
This evidence too was scheduled to be presented in Al-Megrahi's second appeal, abandoned in 2009.
The protocols and data resulting from the defence-commissioned experiments would no doubt be freely available, should the prosecuting authorities request to examine them.
Do the responsible officers not have a duty of conscience to at least enquire into this new evidence?
And might we ask of Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland how he would feel if it was his own daughter who had been murdered by unknown persons, while a man remains falsely convicted for that offence?
Will not his silence, and that of his officials and the Scottish judiciary, should it continue, be interpreted by historians as the greatest of betrayals of Scottish society and the law?
It is now almost six months since the revelation in John Ashton's book (Megrahi: You are my Jury: The Lockerbie Evidence) that the key evidence on which Baset Al-Megrahi was convicted can no longer be scientifically sustained.
And yet there remains a deafening silence on the part of the judges and Crown Office officials responsible for the investigation and conviction of Al-Megrahi.
The two main planks on which the prosecution's case was founded are:
1. A Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci, identified Al-Megrahi as the stranger who had, shortly before the December 1988 bombing, bought clothes in his shop.
2. A fragment of an electronic timer board found at Lockerbie came from a batch of twenty sold to Libya in 1985 by Swiss electronics company MEBO.
1. The Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, during their own three-year investigation of the case, found six grounds for concluding that "a miscarriage of justice may have occurred".
One of the SCCRC's grounds was their discovery of a series of entries in the police diary of chief Dumfries and Galloway police investigator Harry Bell.
Bell recorded from the first days of his investigation that huge offers of reward were available from the United States to principal identification witness Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci.
In a letter sent by Dana Biehl of the US Department of Justice, it was explained that Gauci would receive "unlimited monies, with $10,000 available immediately" if Al-Megrahi was convicted.
Bell's police diary, and all knowledge of this offer and negotiations concerning the offer, were concealed from the trial and first appeal. The judges who convicted Al-Megrahi were unaware of these matters when they concluded that Gauci was a totally reliable witness.
Gauci's final and conclusive identification of Al-Megrahi took place during a police identity parade.
Yet Gauci could not fail to identify the man, since he had possessed for several weeks a copy of a magazine with a colour photo of Al-Megrahi, in which the Libyan was described as "the bomber".
2. The fragment of electronic timer board
It was upon this item that the entire case against Al-Megrahi would turn. In the minds of the judges it proved the Libyan connection, since the evidence appeared to show that it came from a batch sold to Libya in 1985.
It had - according to the available evidence - been manufactured by Swiss company Thuring, on behalf of electronics supplier MEBO. It seemed to be a "golden thread" linking Al-Megrahi to the bomb.
In 2008 the Al-Megrahi defence team discovered an extraordinary anomaly, one which had escaped the attention of the prosecution team, the Scottish Crown Office, and the Scottish police. It concerned the silver-like protective coating on the fragment, which covered the copper circuitry in order to prevent oxidisation.
A hand-written note by the government's chief forensic scientist Alan Feraday had recorded the protective coating as "100% tin".
Feraday's records also showed that he was aware of the difference between the Lockerbie fragment and the coating upon a control sample supplied to the police as part of their investigation. The control sample - manufactured by Swiss company Thuring - contained a 70/30% alloy of tin and lead.
The prosecution and police mistake was to speculate that the heat of the Lockerbie explosion had entirely evaporated the lead content. But no follow-up investigations in order to test this theory were carried out.
During the trial, the judges and defence team were unaware of the anomaly and accepted the provenance of the fragment from the metallurgical point of view.
When in 2008 the defence team checked with Thuring, it emerged that all timer boards made by that company throughout the 1980's were coated with an alloy mixture of 70% tin and 30% lead. Indeed, Thuring had always made, and continue to make, boards with a 70/30% alloy.
In 2008 the Thuring production manager swore an affidavit to this effect and was scheduled to repeat his evidence in Al-Megrahi's second appeal, abandoned in 2009.
Having discovered the anomaly, the defence team commissioned two highly experienced and reputable scientists to investigate the matter. In a series of experiments carried out at separate laboratories, the scientists tested the theory of evaporation of lead content by high temperatures.
In all cases, the lead did not evaporate. Thus they established beyond all reasonable doubt that the fragment found at Lockerbie could not have come from any of the timers sold to Libya by MEBO.
This evidence too was scheduled to be presented in Al-Megrahi's second appeal, abandoned in 2009.
The protocols and data resulting from the defence-commissioned experiments would no doubt be freely available, should the prosecuting authorities request to examine them.
Do the responsible officers not have a duty of conscience to at least enquire into this new evidence?
And might we ask of Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland how he would feel if it was his own daughter who had been murdered by unknown persons, while a man remains falsely convicted for that offence?
Will not his silence, and that of his officials and the Scottish judiciary, should it continue, be interpreted by historians as the greatest of betrayals of Scottish society and the law?
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Senussi extradition could help Lockerbie inquiry
[This is the headline over a report in today’s edition of The Herald. The following is an excerpt:]
Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland travelled to Libya in April to meet Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib and pave the way for the new Lockerbie inquiry, announced last autumn.
A statement from the Crown Office said: "We note the position in relation to the extradition of Senussi to Libya and we will continue to liaise with our colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as the Libyan authorities, to pursue all available lines of inquiry."
It would not be drawn on whether active steps were being made to interview Senussi, who has been accused of crimes against humanity – including murder and persecution – by the International Criminal Court.
[The Scotsman’s report contains the following:]
(...) his trial may also make some feel uncomfortable – he may reveal the details of the rapprochement brokered during the famous “meeting in the desert” between Gaddafi and former prime minister Tony Blair in 2004, which saw international sanctions lifted.
Senussi will also have the answers to what part Abdulbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who died in Tripoli earlier this year, played in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing – and will be able to answer questions about whether the deal to send Megrahi back to Libya was linked to concessions for British oil companies.
[The following are excerpts from the report in The Times (behind the paywall):]
Western diplomats said the Libyan Government would also face inquiries from Britain, the US and France over al-Senussi’s knowledge of international crimes linked to the Gaddafi regime.
These include the bombing of Pan Am Flight 174 over Lockerbie, the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher and the bombing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989 — for which al-Senussi was convicted in absentia by a French court. (...)
A British Foreign Office spokesman said last night: “There are a number of open UK police investigations in relation to the activities of the Gaddafi regime. The police will follow the evidence wherever it leads and we will continue to provide them what support we can. The Libyan authorities are in no doubt of the importance the UK attaches to seeing progress made on these investigations.”
[The report in The Independent contains the following:]
The French government has already sentenced Mr Senussi to life imprisonment after a case heard in absentia, involving the shooting down of a UTA airliner over Niger in 1989 in which 170 people were killed. It has also been claimed that he was involved in the destruction of the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie.
However, Libya became a staunch ally of the West against Islamists following the rapprochement with Gaddafi led by the US and UK, and Mr Senussi will have details of co-operation which could cause embarrassment on both sides of the Atlantic if aired publicly.
Abdul Hakim Belhaj, a former head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is currently suing the British Government and senior officials in this country over his rendition to Libya.
Earlier this year, US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who led a delegation to the region, said Washington had a "particular interest" in seeing Mr Senussi arrested "because of his role with the Lockerbie bombing".
There are, however, doubts over Libyan culpability in the attack, with strong feeling among many close to the case that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was wrongly convicted of the bombing.
[A report in the Daily Telegraph can be read here.]
Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland travelled to Libya in April to meet Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib and pave the way for the new Lockerbie inquiry, announced last autumn.
A statement from the Crown Office said: "We note the position in relation to the extradition of Senussi to Libya and we will continue to liaise with our colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as the Libyan authorities, to pursue all available lines of inquiry."
It would not be drawn on whether active steps were being made to interview Senussi, who has been accused of crimes against humanity – including murder and persecution – by the International Criminal Court.
[The Scotsman’s report contains the following:]
(...) his trial may also make some feel uncomfortable – he may reveal the details of the rapprochement brokered during the famous “meeting in the desert” between Gaddafi and former prime minister Tony Blair in 2004, which saw international sanctions lifted.
Senussi will also have the answers to what part Abdulbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who died in Tripoli earlier this year, played in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing – and will be able to answer questions about whether the deal to send Megrahi back to Libya was linked to concessions for British oil companies.
[The following are excerpts from the report in The Times (behind the paywall):]
Western diplomats said the Libyan Government would also face inquiries from Britain, the US and France over al-Senussi’s knowledge of international crimes linked to the Gaddafi regime.
These include the bombing of Pan Am Flight 174 over Lockerbie, the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher and the bombing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989 — for which al-Senussi was convicted in absentia by a French court. (...)
A British Foreign Office spokesman said last night: “There are a number of open UK police investigations in relation to the activities of the Gaddafi regime. The police will follow the evidence wherever it leads and we will continue to provide them what support we can. The Libyan authorities are in no doubt of the importance the UK attaches to seeing progress made on these investigations.”
[The report in The Independent contains the following:]
The French government has already sentenced Mr Senussi to life imprisonment after a case heard in absentia, involving the shooting down of a UTA airliner over Niger in 1989 in which 170 people were killed. It has also been claimed that he was involved in the destruction of the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie.
However, Libya became a staunch ally of the West against Islamists following the rapprochement with Gaddafi led by the US and UK, and Mr Senussi will have details of co-operation which could cause embarrassment on both sides of the Atlantic if aired publicly.
Abdul Hakim Belhaj, a former head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is currently suing the British Government and senior officials in this country over his rendition to Libya.
Earlier this year, US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who led a delegation to the region, said Washington had a "particular interest" in seeing Mr Senussi arrested "because of his role with the Lockerbie bombing".
There are, however, doubts over Libyan culpability in the attack, with strong feeling among many close to the case that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was wrongly convicted of the bombing.
[A report in the Daily Telegraph can be read here.]
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Abdullah al-Senussi extradition unites Lockerbie relatives
[This is the headline over a report published this evening on the website of The Guardian. It reads in part:]
The extradition to Libya of Muammar Gaddafi's spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi brought a rare moment of unity among Lockerbie relatives and campaigners normally deeply split on Libya's role in the bombing.
They agreed that Scottish police and prosecutors should make strenuous efforts to question Senussi about his links to or knowledge of the atrocity, which killed 270 people in December 1988. But they disagreed about why.
Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora, 20, was one of 35 Syracuse University students killed in the bombing, said it would be "excellent" if Scottish investigators succeeded in meeting Senussi. "I would thoroughly urge them to do so," she said.
In particular, Cohen said, Senussi could confirm the guilt of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the sole person convicted of the bombing, who died of cancer this summer. He could also implicate senior figures in the Gaddafi regime.
She said claims by Megrahi's supporters and other Lockerbie relatives that he was innocent and that the atrocity was committed by another state such as Syria or Iran were "goofball theories" without any evidence.
"My fear is that everybody would have put Lockerbie on the backburner and not pursue the case," she said. "I don't suspect there's some vast conspiracy and they're afraid of what might come out, but Gaddafi is dead and Megrahi is dead – it's easier to deal with the present and easier things, so they don't really want to do this.
"It's vital to interview Senussi. I would hope they will be interviewing others. I think it's extremely important that we know. We should know as much as we can and there may be other people [in Libya] who can be indicted – and if that is the case, we need to do that."
However, Jim Swire, a senior figure among the British bereaved families, is adamant that Megrahi was innocent. A leading member of the Justice for Megrahi campaign, which is discussing reopening Megrahi's appeal against his conviction with his surviving sons, Swire said there had been theories for some years linking Senussi to Lockerbie.
One allegation was that Senussi and Moussa Koussa, the Libyan former foreign minister, who fled Tripoli with the help of western agencies before Gaddafi's death, had taken control of several bombs built by a Palestinian terrorist group, PFLP-GC, that were missed in raids by German police.
Moussa Koussa agreed to be interviewed by Dumfries and Galloway police and Crown Office prosecutors early last year, but is thought to have offered very little new information about Lockerbie or Megrahi. Swire said he was sceptical about the theory, but added: "It's quite possible that Libya played a part in Lockerbie. It's very clear that Megrahi didn't.
"The two people from Gaddafi's regime who seem to be in the frame are Senussi and Moussa Koussa. Moussa Koussa clearly had a relationship with western intelligence because he was allowed to fly to Britain and then the Middle East, where he now lives the life of Reilly. [The] suspicion is that Senussi and Moussa Koussa may have set up the use of those devices for Lockerbie."
John Ashton, author of Megrahi's authorised biography, [Megrahi:] You are my Jury, said other sources believed Senussi was simply a security "enforcer" rather than a spymaster of Moussa Koussa's rank. "Megrahi never hid the fact that he was related to Senussi," Ashton said. "Although he never discussed Sennusi's alleged role in the bombing, he was convinced that Libya – and therefore Sennusi – was not responsible for it.
"Western intelligence sources and the US state department always claimed that Senussi was Megrahi's boss. If that's the case then the Scottish police should be moving heaven and earth to get to him. However, I take those claims with a huge pinch of salt, as the evidence against Megrahi is highly flawed. If the police do get to Senussi, they may well be very disappointed."
The extradition to Libya of Muammar Gaddafi's spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi brought a rare moment of unity among Lockerbie relatives and campaigners normally deeply split on Libya's role in the bombing.
They agreed that Scottish police and prosecutors should make strenuous efforts to question Senussi about his links to or knowledge of the atrocity, which killed 270 people in December 1988. But they disagreed about why.
Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora, 20, was one of 35 Syracuse University students killed in the bombing, said it would be "excellent" if Scottish investigators succeeded in meeting Senussi. "I would thoroughly urge them to do so," she said.
In particular, Cohen said, Senussi could confirm the guilt of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the sole person convicted of the bombing, who died of cancer this summer. He could also implicate senior figures in the Gaddafi regime.
She said claims by Megrahi's supporters and other Lockerbie relatives that he was innocent and that the atrocity was committed by another state such as Syria or Iran were "goofball theories" without any evidence.
"My fear is that everybody would have put Lockerbie on the backburner and not pursue the case," she said. "I don't suspect there's some vast conspiracy and they're afraid of what might come out, but Gaddafi is dead and Megrahi is dead – it's easier to deal with the present and easier things, so they don't really want to do this.
"It's vital to interview Senussi. I would hope they will be interviewing others. I think it's extremely important that we know. We should know as much as we can and there may be other people [in Libya] who can be indicted – and if that is the case, we need to do that."
However, Jim Swire, a senior figure among the British bereaved families, is adamant that Megrahi was innocent. A leading member of the Justice for Megrahi campaign, which is discussing reopening Megrahi's appeal against his conviction with his surviving sons, Swire said there had been theories for some years linking Senussi to Lockerbie.
One allegation was that Senussi and Moussa Koussa, the Libyan former foreign minister, who fled Tripoli with the help of western agencies before Gaddafi's death, had taken control of several bombs built by a Palestinian terrorist group, PFLP-GC, that were missed in raids by German police.
Moussa Koussa agreed to be interviewed by Dumfries and Galloway police and Crown Office prosecutors early last year, but is thought to have offered very little new information about Lockerbie or Megrahi. Swire said he was sceptical about the theory, but added: "It's quite possible that Libya played a part in Lockerbie. It's very clear that Megrahi didn't.
"The two people from Gaddafi's regime who seem to be in the frame are Senussi and Moussa Koussa. Moussa Koussa clearly had a relationship with western intelligence because he was allowed to fly to Britain and then the Middle East, where he now lives the life of Reilly. [The] suspicion is that Senussi and Moussa Koussa may have set up the use of those devices for Lockerbie."
John Ashton, author of Megrahi's authorised biography, [Megrahi:] You are my Jury, said other sources believed Senussi was simply a security "enforcer" rather than a spymaster of Moussa Koussa's rank. "Megrahi never hid the fact that he was related to Senussi," Ashton said. "Although he never discussed Sennusi's alleged role in the bombing, he was convinced that Libya – and therefore Sennusi – was not responsible for it.
"Western intelligence sources and the US state department always claimed that Senussi was Megrahi's boss. If that's the case then the Scottish police should be moving heaven and earth to get to him. However, I take those claims with a huge pinch of salt, as the evidence against Megrahi is highly flawed. If the police do get to Senussi, they may well be very disappointed."
Gaddafi intelligence chief Senoussi returned to Libya
[The following are excerpts from a report just published by The Associated Press news agency:]
Mauritania has extradited to Libya Moammar Gadhafi's former spy chief, according to a government statement read on national radio on Wednesday.
The statement says that Libya's former spy chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, was sent back to Libya on Wednesday morning, giving no further details. (...)
Libya, the International Criminal Court as well as France had all asked to try the former intelligence chief, who is accused of having helped orchestrate some of Gadhafi's worst crimes, including the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 (...)
Oriane Maillet, a spokeswoman for the ICC in The Hague, said the court has received no information yet from Libyan authorities on the transfer of al-Senoussi, but stressed that an international arrest warrant has been issued for him based on ICC charges.
[US] House [of Representatives] Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who led a delegation to the region, told reporters in Tripoli earlier this year that the US had a "particular interest (in seeing him arrested) because of his role with the Lockerbie bombing." (...)
France also quickly lobbied to get custody of al-Senoussi. He was one of six Libyans convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison in France for the 1989 bombing of a passenger jet over Niger that killed all 170 people on board, including 54 French people.
Mauritania has extradited to Libya Moammar Gadhafi's former spy chief, according to a government statement read on national radio on Wednesday.
The statement says that Libya's former spy chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, was sent back to Libya on Wednesday morning, giving no further details. (...)
Libya, the International Criminal Court as well as France had all asked to try the former intelligence chief, who is accused of having helped orchestrate some of Gadhafi's worst crimes, including the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 (...)
Oriane Maillet, a spokeswoman for the ICC in The Hague, said the court has received no information yet from Libyan authorities on the transfer of al-Senoussi, but stressed that an international arrest warrant has been issued for him based on ICC charges.
[US] House [of Representatives] Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who led a delegation to the region, told reporters in Tripoli earlier this year that the US had a "particular interest (in seeing him arrested) because of his role with the Lockerbie bombing." (...)
France also quickly lobbied to get custody of al-Senoussi. He was one of six Libyans convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison in France for the 1989 bombing of a passenger jet over Niger that killed all 170 people on board, including 54 French people.
SCCRC Megrahi report
Now that there is a paywall on the heraldscotland website, it may be useful to point out that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission's Statement of Reasons in the Megrahi case is also available in full here on Scribd.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
An indelible stain on the reputation of Scotland and its justice system
[What follows is the text of a press release from The Nugget Theatre Company:]
One of the reasons Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill freed the Lockerbie Bomber in 2009 was to prevent Scots being murdered in terrorist reprisals.
That’s the theory in a new play about Lockerbie that’s being staged this weekend in Stirling.
“This was a brave and far-sighted decision and in my view Mr MacAskill deserves praise and thanks for it,” said Alan Clark, the author and director of The Lockerbie Bomber. I have no doubt his action prevented reprisals and a potential loss of life to innocent Scots. While Mr Al Megrahi was freed 'on compassionate grounds', I actually believe it was concern for his fellow Scots that drove that controversial decision.
“I believe he knew that if Megrahi, suffering from advanced terminal prostate cancer, were allowed to die an 'innocent' man in a Scottish prison, he would be seen as a martyr by fanatics and terrorist reprisals would inevitably follow throughout Scotland. We’d already had a foretaste of that with the attempted bombing at Glasgow Airport in 2007.
“Mr MacAskill, and perhaps more importantly his Crown Office, police and civil service advisers, must also have known that, following the determination by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, a new appeal by Megrahi would be both successful and devastating. It would shine an unwelcome light into some murky corners of the Scottish criminal justice system – evidence fabricated, evidence withheld, witnesses paid millions for their testimony. So the play makes the pretty obvious point that there was more than compassion at work here: to avoid the ridicule of the Scottish legal system in the eyes of the world and prevent any bloodshed inScotland, we had to get him out of Greenock Prison and back to Libya fast. In the play, the question is asked: was freeing Megrahi 'on compassionate grounds' in fact a fig leaf to keep Scots safe and protect our justice system?”
The play is set in the present day and looks at the bombing from three different perspectives – the victims’ families, journalists investigating the case, and the UK and US security services engaged in covering up what happened. The drama, which explores this veil of secrecy, links Grangemouth, Greenock, Glasgow and Guantanamo Bay in the gritty and fast-moving 75-minute piece.
“Almost twenty-four years on, Lockerbie still looms large over Scotland and there are still unanswered questions over what happened that night and who is ultimately responsible for two hundred and seventy deaths. As one of the characters in the play says: ‘Sooner or later, to protect itself, the Scottish Government will have to cast the Crown Office adrift and abandon the fiction that Megrahi’s conviction is safe.’"
Iain McKie, a member of the Justice for Megrahi committee, has seen the drama. He said: “This is a challenging and thought-provoking play that brings the human suffering and political chicanery behind the tragedy of Lockerbie to vivid and dramatic life. It should be required viewing for every Scot as a reminder of a disaster that has become an indelible stain on the reputation of Scotland and its justice system."
The Lockerbie Bomber, performed by The Nugget Theatre Company, is on at The MacRobert Playhouse Theatre, University of Stirling, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September at 7.00pm and 9.00pm both nights. Tickets, £10 and £9 (concessions), from the MacRobert Box Office on 01786 466666 or at www.macrobert.org
[An article in the Stirling Observer about this play can be read here. A review of an earlier performance of the play can be read here.]
One of the reasons Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill freed the Lockerbie Bomber in 2009 was to prevent Scots being murdered in terrorist reprisals.
That’s the theory in a new play about Lockerbie that’s being staged this weekend in Stirling.
“This was a brave and far-sighted decision and in my view Mr MacAskill deserves praise and thanks for it,” said Alan Clark, the author and director of The Lockerbie Bomber. I have no doubt his action prevented reprisals and a potential loss of life to innocent Scots. While Mr Al Megrahi was freed 'on compassionate grounds', I actually believe it was concern for his fellow Scots that drove that controversial decision.
“I believe he knew that if Megrahi, suffering from advanced terminal prostate cancer, were allowed to die an 'innocent' man in a Scottish prison, he would be seen as a martyr by fanatics and terrorist reprisals would inevitably follow throughout Scotland. We’d already had a foretaste of that with the attempted bombing at Glasgow Airport in 2007.
“Mr MacAskill, and perhaps more importantly his Crown Office, police and civil service advisers, must also have known that, following the determination by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, a new appeal by Megrahi would be both successful and devastating. It would shine an unwelcome light into some murky corners of the Scottish criminal justice system – evidence fabricated, evidence withheld, witnesses paid millions for their testimony. So the play makes the pretty obvious point that there was more than compassion at work here: to avoid the ridicule of the Scottish legal system in the eyes of the world and prevent any bloodshed inScotland, we had to get him out of Greenock Prison and back to Libya fast. In the play, the question is asked: was freeing Megrahi 'on compassionate grounds' in fact a fig leaf to keep Scots safe and protect our justice system?”
The play is set in the present day and looks at the bombing from three different perspectives – the victims’ families, journalists investigating the case, and the UK and US security services engaged in covering up what happened. The drama, which explores this veil of secrecy, links Grangemouth, Greenock, Glasgow and Guantanamo Bay in the gritty and fast-moving 75-minute piece.
“Almost twenty-four years on, Lockerbie still looms large over Scotland and there are still unanswered questions over what happened that night and who is ultimately responsible for two hundred and seventy deaths. As one of the characters in the play says: ‘Sooner or later, to protect itself, the Scottish Government will have to cast the Crown Office adrift and abandon the fiction that Megrahi’s conviction is safe.’"
Iain McKie, a member of the Justice for Megrahi committee, has seen the drama. He said: “This is a challenging and thought-provoking play that brings the human suffering and political chicanery behind the tragedy of Lockerbie to vivid and dramatic life. It should be required viewing for every Scot as a reminder of a disaster that has become an indelible stain on the reputation of Scotland and its justice system."
The Lockerbie Bomber, performed by The Nugget Theatre Company, is on at The MacRobert Playhouse Theatre, University of Stirling, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September at 7.00pm and 9.00pm both nights. Tickets, £10 and £9 (concessions), from the MacRobert Box Office on 01786 466666 or at www.macrobert.org
[An article in the Stirling Observer about this play can be read here. A review of an earlier performance of the play can be read here.]
Sunday, 2 September 2012
A stitch-up and a miscarriage of justice
[What follows is an excerpt from the transcript of an interview about the Julian Assange situation with former British ambassador and Dundee University Rector Craig Murray broadcast on 31 August on the Straight Talk programme of Occupy News Network:]
The chances of getting to Ecuador from the embassy in the middle of London without the agreement of the British authorities are limited. You can, you know, we can all think of sort of physical escape scenarios, but they’re not easy. There’s going to have to be a diplomatic solution. My guess would be that it will take a long while in coming, I think six months from now. There’s not going to be much public awareness that anything has changed, although talks will have been going on behind the scenes.
The obvious solution is for the Swedes to agree that they won’t extradite him to the United States, but the Swedes absolutely refuse to do that, and the United States refuses to say that it won’t apply for extradition, because frankly there’s no doubt whatsoever that the United States has convened a grand jury to look at prosecuting Assange and Wikileaks and has every intention of extraditing him to the United States. So all of that is very, very difficult.
You can see a kind of Lockerbie solution. The alleged Lockerbie bomber, Mr. Megrahi, was tried in the Hague under Scottish law by Scottish judges because they didn’t want to send him to Scotland and they agreed to hold the trial on mutual [RB: presumably “neutral” is what was said] premises, and the Dutch agreed that a court in the Hague [RB: actually Zeist] could actually be in effect under Scottish law for the period of the trial. It’s not the happiest precedent, because I think the trial was itself a stitch-up and a miscarriage of justice, but it does set a precedent for somebody being tried by another state on somebody else’s territory, so there is a precedent in international law if people were looking for that.
[Quotation of Craig Murray must not be taken to imply agreement on my part with his views on the Assange case.]
The chances of getting to Ecuador from the embassy in the middle of London without the agreement of the British authorities are limited. You can, you know, we can all think of sort of physical escape scenarios, but they’re not easy. There’s going to have to be a diplomatic solution. My guess would be that it will take a long while in coming, I think six months from now. There’s not going to be much public awareness that anything has changed, although talks will have been going on behind the scenes.
The obvious solution is for the Swedes to agree that they won’t extradite him to the United States, but the Swedes absolutely refuse to do that, and the United States refuses to say that it won’t apply for extradition, because frankly there’s no doubt whatsoever that the United States has convened a grand jury to look at prosecuting Assange and Wikileaks and has every intention of extraditing him to the United States. So all of that is very, very difficult.
You can see a kind of Lockerbie solution. The alleged Lockerbie bomber, Mr. Megrahi, was tried in the Hague under Scottish law by Scottish judges because they didn’t want to send him to Scotland and they agreed to hold the trial on mutual [RB: presumably “neutral” is what was said] premises, and the Dutch agreed that a court in the Hague [RB: actually Zeist] could actually be in effect under Scottish law for the period of the trial. It’s not the happiest precedent, because I think the trial was itself a stitch-up and a miscarriage of justice, but it does set a precedent for somebody being tried by another state on somebody else’s territory, so there is a precedent in international law if people were looking for that.
[Quotation of Craig Murray must not be taken to imply agreement on my part with his views on the Assange case.]
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Lockerbie: Case Closed – Injustice Served
This is the headline over a review of the Aljazeera documentary Lockerbie: Case Closed on the Top Documentary Stream website. The documentary can be viewed online on the same web page. Here are a few sentences from the review:
“The documentary is focused around a report issued by the SCCRC relating to the inquiry of the Lockerbie bombing. As the documentary proves from both eye witness accounts, from officially written police statements and from scientific evidence, it becomes quite evident that Al-Megrahi was not the perpetrator in the Lockerbie case. The documentary explains how Tony Gauci changed his statements almost 3 times over the course of the investigation, it also shows how the initial artistic impression of the perpetrator of the Lockerbie disaster bore absolutely no resemblance to Al-Megrahi and the documentary also shows how scientifically it is proven that the alloy used to create the circuitry of the timer used in the terrorist attack was different from the one’s supplied to Libyan Intelligence and the one thought to have been used by Al-Megrahi in the attack.
“The documentary almost completely seals the case and proves that Al-Megrahi was innocent; it also however brings to light that injustice was indeed carried out but the most devastating part is that even when it was discovered it was kept hidden from the general public.”
“The documentary is focused around a report issued by the SCCRC relating to the inquiry of the Lockerbie bombing. As the documentary proves from both eye witness accounts, from officially written police statements and from scientific evidence, it becomes quite evident that Al-Megrahi was not the perpetrator in the Lockerbie case. The documentary explains how Tony Gauci changed his statements almost 3 times over the course of the investigation, it also shows how the initial artistic impression of the perpetrator of the Lockerbie disaster bore absolutely no resemblance to Al-Megrahi and the documentary also shows how scientifically it is proven that the alloy used to create the circuitry of the timer used in the terrorist attack was different from the one’s supplied to Libyan Intelligence and the one thought to have been used by Al-Megrahi in the attack.
“The documentary almost completely seals the case and proves that Al-Megrahi was innocent; it also however brings to light that injustice was indeed carried out but the most devastating part is that even when it was discovered it was kept hidden from the general public.”
Monday, 27 August 2012
Serendipity and "The Lockerbie Bomber"
Alan Clark, who wrote and directs the new play The Lockerbie Bomber, on at Stirling’s MacRobert Playhouse Theatre September 8 and 9, explains how three strange coincidences helped bring the drama to the stage.
Serendipity is defined as “happy or fortunate discoveries by accident”. “Happy” is not a word you would ever associate with the worst air disaster in British history involving Pan Am Flight 103 on a dark December night in 1988. But nonetheless three serendipitous events, occurring in quick succession, made me believe this play was meant to happen and gave me confidence to press on.
First, the play is set in a corner of the Lockerbie crash site. So for authenticity we needed real aircraft parts to form the debris. I do some work for Prestwick Airport and I knew they had an old 747 jumbo jet on the airfield which they use for fire and rescue training. I asked the Chief Executive if I could have some bits and pieces from inside the plane, and he kindly agreed. So we removed some seats, tray tables, cushions, carpets, oxygen masks and other stuff.
There are now no external markings on the quietly rusting 747 but there was a Boeing reference number above the door. A Google search showed that it was the sixty-seventh 747 to be manufactured in Seattle and it entered service in 1970 with United Airlines. So what? Well, the so what is that in 1985 it moved from United to Pan Am and remained there for six years. In other words, it was a sister aircraft to the one that crashed at Lockerbie in 1988 and, upon closer inspection, the seats and other things we now have onstage are genuine Pan Am items. An astonishing coincidence.
Another macabre footnote is that while with Pan Am, it was named “Clipper Tradewind” in honour of an earlier Pan Am aircraft…which crashed in 1963, killing all passengers on board, just like Lockerbie, and also on a dark December night, just like Lockerbie. Scary.
Second, I like to use music where possible to add atmosphere and mood. In the play, the actress playing a bereaved mother talks to the audience as she imagines her ten-year-old son, a passenger on the plane, falling through the dark night sky after the explosion. She grieves for him, wishing she had been there for him to save and protect him. I thought that a piece of appropriate music would work well under her monologue but I was stuck for the right piece.
I was doing the weekly shop in Asda with my wife and noticed they were selling Kate Bush’s new album, “50 Words for Snow”. I’m not even a fan of hers but on a whim I bought it. Track 1 starts with her voice but is replaced by a young boy who starts speaking. The words absolutely rooted me to the spot. He says:
Now I am falling.
I want you to catch me.
Look up and you’ll see me.
You know you can hear me.
It turns out the voice is that of her young son. I just had to use it and it appears towards the end of the play. Again, scary.
And lastly, another serendipitous musical thing. I wanted a piece of music to run under the final scene and had some ideas but they weren’t quite right. I rarely listen to Radio 3, BBC’s classical music station, but one day in the car I tuned in…and came in halfway through a melancholic piece that was absolutely perfect for what I needed. It was Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and I subsequently found it was voted “the saddest classical work ever”. When we do the play, and it runs under the last speech, it makes the hairs go up on the back of my neck every time.
So three eerie, fortuitous events that came to us from nowhere and helped shape this play. Just extraordinary.
The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie killed 270 people and was the worst terrorist atrocity in the UK. The play is set in the present day and looks at the bombing from three different perspectives – the victims’ families, journalists investigating the case, and the UK and US security services engaged in covering up what happened. The drama, which explores this veil of secrecy, links Grangemouth, Greenock, Glasgow and Guantanamo Bay in the gritty and fast-moving 75-minute piece.
Almost twenty-four years on, Lockerbie still looms large over Scotland and there arestill unanswered questions over what happened that night and who is ultimately responsible for two hundred and seventy deaths. As one of the characters says: "Sooner or later, to protect itself, the Scottish Government will have to cast the Crown Office adrift and abandon the fiction that Megrahi’s conviction is safe."
The Lockerbie Bomber, performed by The Nugget Theatre Company, is on at The MacRobert Playhouse Theatre, University of Stirling, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September at 7.00pm and 9.00pm both nights. The cast is Carol Clark, Rhona Law, Jim Allan, Brian Paterson, Craig Murray and Alan Clark. Tickets, £10 and £9 (concessions), from the MacRobert Box Office on 01786 466666 or at www.macrobert.org
Serendipity is defined as “happy or fortunate discoveries by accident”. “Happy” is not a word you would ever associate with the worst air disaster in British history involving Pan Am Flight 103 on a dark December night in 1988. But nonetheless three serendipitous events, occurring in quick succession, made me believe this play was meant to happen and gave me confidence to press on.
First, the play is set in a corner of the Lockerbie crash site. So for authenticity we needed real aircraft parts to form the debris. I do some work for Prestwick Airport and I knew they had an old 747 jumbo jet on the airfield which they use for fire and rescue training. I asked the Chief Executive if I could have some bits and pieces from inside the plane, and he kindly agreed. So we removed some seats, tray tables, cushions, carpets, oxygen masks and other stuff.
There are now no external markings on the quietly rusting 747 but there was a Boeing reference number above the door. A Google search showed that it was the sixty-seventh 747 to be manufactured in Seattle and it entered service in 1970 with United Airlines. So what? Well, the so what is that in 1985 it moved from United to Pan Am and remained there for six years. In other words, it was a sister aircraft to the one that crashed at Lockerbie in 1988 and, upon closer inspection, the seats and other things we now have onstage are genuine Pan Am items. An astonishing coincidence.
Another macabre footnote is that while with Pan Am, it was named “Clipper Tradewind” in honour of an earlier Pan Am aircraft…which crashed in 1963, killing all passengers on board, just like Lockerbie, and also on a dark December night, just like Lockerbie. Scary.
Second, I like to use music where possible to add atmosphere and mood. In the play, the actress playing a bereaved mother talks to the audience as she imagines her ten-year-old son, a passenger on the plane, falling through the dark night sky after the explosion. She grieves for him, wishing she had been there for him to save and protect him. I thought that a piece of appropriate music would work well under her monologue but I was stuck for the right piece.
I was doing the weekly shop in Asda with my wife and noticed they were selling Kate Bush’s new album, “50 Words for Snow”. I’m not even a fan of hers but on a whim I bought it. Track 1 starts with her voice but is replaced by a young boy who starts speaking. The words absolutely rooted me to the spot. He says:
Now I am falling.
I want you to catch me.
Look up and you’ll see me.
You know you can hear me.
It turns out the voice is that of her young son. I just had to use it and it appears towards the end of the play. Again, scary.
And lastly, another serendipitous musical thing. I wanted a piece of music to run under the final scene and had some ideas but they weren’t quite right. I rarely listen to Radio 3, BBC’s classical music station, but one day in the car I tuned in…and came in halfway through a melancholic piece that was absolutely perfect for what I needed. It was Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and I subsequently found it was voted “the saddest classical work ever”. When we do the play, and it runs under the last speech, it makes the hairs go up on the back of my neck every time.
So three eerie, fortuitous events that came to us from nowhere and helped shape this play. Just extraordinary.
The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie killed 270 people and was the worst terrorist atrocity in the UK. The play is set in the present day and looks at the bombing from three different perspectives – the victims’ families, journalists investigating the case, and the UK and US security services engaged in covering up what happened. The drama, which explores this veil of secrecy, links Grangemouth, Greenock, Glasgow and Guantanamo Bay in the gritty and fast-moving 75-minute piece.
Almost twenty-four years on, Lockerbie still looms large over Scotland and there arestill unanswered questions over what happened that night and who is ultimately responsible for two hundred and seventy deaths. As one of the characters says: "Sooner or later, to protect itself, the Scottish Government will have to cast the Crown Office adrift and abandon the fiction that Megrahi’s conviction is safe."
The Lockerbie Bomber, performed by The Nugget Theatre Company, is on at The MacRobert Playhouse Theatre, University of Stirling, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September at 7.00pm and 9.00pm both nights. The cast is Carol Clark, Rhona Law, Jim Allan, Brian Paterson, Craig Murray and Alan Clark. Tickets, £10 and £9 (concessions), from the MacRobert Box Office on 01786 466666 or at www.macrobert.org
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Assurances sought on Lockerbie investigation
[This is the heading over an item published today on the website of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. It reads as follows:]
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP has asked Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC for assurances that the “book has not been closed” into the Lockerbie bombing after it emerged that Scottish police officers have yet to visit Libya. A re-investigation announced in October 2011 saw the Lord Advocate travel on a mission to Libya in April this year to discuss the investigation with the Libyan National Government.
In a letter to the Lord Advocate, Mr Rennie said that the relatives of those in the Lockerbie bombing and the Scottish public need assurances that the live investigation is still being fully resourced and supported in its efforts to uncover any new lines of inquiry which will bring to justice others involved in the bombing.
Commenting on the letter, Mr Rennie said:
“I have written to the Lord Advocate to seek assurances that the book has not been closed on the renewed Lockerbie bombing criminal investigation. Earlier this year the First Minister rejected calls for an independent inquiry into the Lockerbie prosecution, which could have shone a light on the extent of Megrahi’s involvement or even pointed towards others being involved.
“In denying that independent inquiry the opportunity to get the answers so deserved by relatives of the Lockerbie bombing was left to the criminal investigation. It’s therefore hugely disappointing that Scottish police officers have yet to visit Libya to undertake their investigation.
“With the passing of each month it becomes less and less likely that any existing evidence can be found. The Crown’s position that Megrahi did not act alone is all very well, but it brings neither justice nor answers to those who need it most.
“It is essential that the Crown Office does all it can to pursue new lines of enquiry. The Lord Advocate must provide assurances that the book has not been closed on the Lockerbie bombing investigation.”
[Mr Rennie’s earlier interventions on Lockerbie, including his support for an independent inquiry into the prosecution and conviction of Abdelbaset Megrahi, can be accessed by typing “Willie Rennie” into this blog’s search facility.
The Press Association news agency's report on Willie Rennie's letter to the Lord Advocate, which has been run on a number of news media websites, can be read here. The best treatment of the story, in that it goes beyond the news agency report, is in The Huffington Post.]
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP has asked Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC for assurances that the “book has not been closed” into the Lockerbie bombing after it emerged that Scottish police officers have yet to visit Libya. A re-investigation announced in October 2011 saw the Lord Advocate travel on a mission to Libya in April this year to discuss the investigation with the Libyan National Government.
In a letter to the Lord Advocate, Mr Rennie said that the relatives of those in the Lockerbie bombing and the Scottish public need assurances that the live investigation is still being fully resourced and supported in its efforts to uncover any new lines of inquiry which will bring to justice others involved in the bombing.
Commenting on the letter, Mr Rennie said:
“I have written to the Lord Advocate to seek assurances that the book has not been closed on the renewed Lockerbie bombing criminal investigation. Earlier this year the First Minister rejected calls for an independent inquiry into the Lockerbie prosecution, which could have shone a light on the extent of Megrahi’s involvement or even pointed towards others being involved.
“In denying that independent inquiry the opportunity to get the answers so deserved by relatives of the Lockerbie bombing was left to the criminal investigation. It’s therefore hugely disappointing that Scottish police officers have yet to visit Libya to undertake their investigation.
“With the passing of each month it becomes less and less likely that any existing evidence can be found. The Crown’s position that Megrahi did not act alone is all very well, but it brings neither justice nor answers to those who need it most.
“It is essential that the Crown Office does all it can to pursue new lines of enquiry. The Lord Advocate must provide assurances that the book has not been closed on the Lockerbie bombing investigation.”
[Mr Rennie’s earlier interventions on Lockerbie, including his support for an independent inquiry into the prosecution and conviction of Abdelbaset Megrahi, can be accessed by typing “Willie Rennie” into this blog’s search facility.
The Press Association news agency's report on Willie Rennie's letter to the Lord Advocate, which has been run on a number of news media websites, can be read here. The best treatment of the story, in that it goes beyond the news agency report, is in The Huffington Post.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)