[This is the headline over a column by Hugo Rifkind (son of Tory grandee and former Foreign Secretary, Sir Malcolm) in today's edition of The Times. The relevant section reads as follows:]
This is not a job for East Renfrewshire Council
There are some matters at which, I’m sure, East Renfrewshire Council must excel. Bins, maybe. Say Auld Dick from No 32 is being kept awake by the stench of the leftovers and egg boxes in the wheelie belonging to Mrs McGinty from No 34. Nae problem. In other areas, though, I suspect it might be out of its depth. A purely random example: international diplomacy.
How has this happened? How has the whereabouts of the man behind the greatest terrorist atrocity on British soil become the responsibility not of the British Government, nor even of the Scottish Executive, but of the same people who empty Mrs McGinty’s bins? I’m talking about Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, otherwise known as the Libyan bomber. The good officers of East Renfrewshire Council, apparently, have been going quite frantic this week. Apparently, the terms of al-Megrahi’s compassionate release dictate that he must check in with the council every two weeks, and this week he couldn’t be contacted. As if they didn’t have enough to worry about, what with the Christmas lights in Giffnock going on.
What, I’m wondering, would the councillors of East Renfrewshire have done to Megrahi, had he not finally got in touch? Torn up his library card? Cancelled his bus pass? Or would they have sent a crack team of council officers, all in fleeces and clip-on ties, all with clipboards, to make an amphibious landing on the Libyan coast? Would they have stormed Tripoli to bring him home, like a cross between Navy Seals and a novel by Evelyn Waugh? As I have never personally lived in East Renfrewshire this is mere conjecture, but my hunch would be probably not.
The case of al-Megrahi was always a farce. Wasn’t he supposed to be dead by now? Plainly, nobody has any control over his whereabouts other than that nice Gaddafi bloke. Instead of anybody admitting that, though, we’ve just got this weird pretence otherwise, with every responsible body fobbing him off downwards, like a hot and quite embarrassing potato. Pretty soon we’ll have East Renfrewshire Council doing the same; you just wait and see. “This,” the Prime Minister will tell the House of Commons, “is purely a matter for Auld Dick and Mrs McGinty and their Neighbourhood Watch.”
[Mr Rifkind makes a good point. Requiring East Renfrewshire Council officials to pretend to monitor and supervise Mr Megrahi was always a nonsense. Even if he were to breach the terms of the licence under which he was released, there is not the slightest chance of his being recalled to prison by the Scottish Government. After all, one of the principal reasons for releasing him was that there was nowhere within the Scottish prison system that was suitable for the care of a dying man in his last weeks and months.
However, it is ironical that this good point should be being made in The Times, which is the newspaper that (a) manufactured a spurious crisis by claiming, on the very flimsiest of evidence, that Mr Megrahi had disappeared and (b) concussed officials of the Council into attempting to contact him outside the normal schedule of fortnightly phone calls. It is to be hoped that the Council submits to The Times a bill for the cost of this entirely unnecessary phone call to Tripoli.]
"How has the whereabouts of the man behind the greatest terrorist atrocity on British soil become the responsibility ... of the same people who empty Mrs McGinty’s bins?"
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely hilarious!
With the existing press bias we can't really blame Hugo Rifkind for not knowing that Megrahi's conviction itself turned out to be a yet another farce.
Is Guaci's bribing history known by Mr. Rifkind? I'd be really curious to know his opinion here, and whether courts from now on should accept the testimony from people paid huge sums by those who'd like them to have a certain opinion?
It would make a lot of things easier. Recent claims of football-fraud could made non-problematic: we would simply accept a statement from the losing football-team that they, despite accepting money, actually really played as well as they possibly could.
- - -
I recall a TV-trial in the JFK-case. A jury, two real layers, a real judge, an audience - everything like for a real trial, only it was not under the law.
Wouldn't it be an idea to set up something similar for a Megrahi re-trial? The only problem could be to find a reputable prosecutor who'd take the hopeless case.
The verdict in the TV JFK-"trial" was, that it was not proven that Oswald was not alone, a verdict I BTW agree with. We are not conspiracy-theory grabbers, Mr. Duggan.
Might I suggest, given that the forecasting of a death must be a highly difficult thing, unless you happen to be an executioner, that those who speculate and hope for an early death of Mr Megrahi, clearly innocent of any crime, ponder how long it took that notorious state criminal General Pinochet to die, having been released on the most dubious medical grounds, by a doctor who was not an expert in the field of the gereral's disease, on Mr Straw's instructions.
ReplyDeleteMight I also ask Mr Balck to contact me, urgently?
May I take space and time in your columns to point out that conspiracy theorist are not conspiracists and the boot is on the other foot?
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Charles, you can also contact Dr. Black himself, his email address is rblackqc@hotmail.com (as given on the front page of this blog)
ReplyDeleteThe refined swindles with manipulated police labels and photo, with the fragment one T-shirt "Slalom" make, and one circuit board PT/35 = (MST-13 timerfragment) in connection:
ReplyDeleteAm 22. Juli 1989 wurde von Ing. Ulrich Lumpert, ohne Wissen der MEBO Ltd. Besitzer Meister & Bollier, ein Prototype Circuit Board MST-13, an die Schweizerische Bundespolizei (BUPO) übergeben. (siehe Affidavit vom 18. Juli, 2007).
Angeblich war das PC-Board für eine Untersuchung der 'Scottish Police' vorgesehen.
MEBO Ltd beweist, dass das angeblich in Lockerbie aufgefundene Fragment eines MST-13 Timer, von einem braunen MEBO Prototype Circuit Board fabriziert wurde, welches nicht von einem der 20 Stück nach Libyen gelieferten grünen MST-13 Timer abstammt!
Somit kann das "Bomb-Bag" (IED), nicht von einem MST-13 Timer aktiviert worden sein, welcher den Absturz der PanAm 103 verursachte und Libyen mit dem Attentat in Verbindung brachte!
Am 26. Juli 1989 (4 Tage später) bekam der Experte Allen Feraday von USA via (RARDE) Informationen über eine mögliche Einbeziehungen eines MST-13 Timer, welcher die Explosion auf PanAm 103 aktiviert haben könnte...
In Feraday's report 181, page 131 is written: *This fragment, (PT/35 (b), represents the only recovered piece of the modification to the Toshiba radio which would have been necessary to convert it into a delayed-action bomb.
It is known that MEBO MST-13 timers have previously been recovered in association with explosives and other terrorist equiment".
Auszug, Gerichtprotokoll Kamp van Zeist:
+++ Q-- (Mr. Feraday) *Was that you reporting simply information
that had been given to you, rather than knowledge that you had at first hand, Mr. Feraday?
A-- Yes. It's from a report, yes, that I eventually received. Yes.
Q--I see. And if you turn to your report at page 169, on the foot of the page, and your conclusion, the last sentence beginning on that page,
you report: "The MST-13 timer has previously been used in improvised explosive devices." Again, Mr. Feraday, is that something that was reported to you, or is it a matter within your own direct knowledge?
A-- It's something which again is contained in a report that's submitted to me. (26th July 1989)
+++
Um das manipulierte MST-13 Timerfragment frühzeitig in die PanAm 103 Unteruchungen zu integrieren, mussten vorsätzlich glaubhafte Vorbedin-gungen geschaffen werden!:
The found fragments of the PanAm 103 Crash, around Lockerbie, were provided in each case approximately with a POLICE LABEL. The found material was marked (under article) with a marking code and signed with date, of two police officials.
Angefangen hatte die gezielte Schuldzuweisung mit dem Polizei Label No. 168, (Court Kamp van Zeist: Day 6, page 966).
Protokoll Auszug:
+++ On the 13th of January 1989, Witness number 257, Mr. Thomas Gilchrist recovered Label 168, which was known as PI-995, a fragment of grey Slalom shirt. +++ end.
MEBO uncovers as example, the following case:
Concerning: Label No.168; Article: a fragment of grey Slalom shirt, with the Marking as PI/995; Date 13th of January 1989; signature from Thomas Gilchrist and unknown.
Der Examination Report von Experte Dr. Thomas Heyes und seines Sachbearbeiters, Allen Feraday, zeigt auf Seite 51, vom 12. Mai 1989, dass man auf kriminelle Art indirekt beweisen wollte, bereits am 17. Januar 1989, ein Fragment eines T-shirt, Marke "Slalom", und ein Fragment eines MST-13 Timer, nebst anderem Kleinmaterial, in der Nähe von Lockerbie aufgefunden zuhaben.
Angeblich hatte Polizei Offizier T. Gichrist von 'Scottish Police' nicht bemerkt, dass sich im "Slalom" T-shirt Fragment ein Circuit Board befand... ???
continuation down >>>
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ReplyDeleteUm eine falsche Darstellung von den Zeugen Dr. Hayes und Allen Feraday (RARDE) vorzutäuschen, dass das PT/35 Circuit Board (MST-13) sei erst am 12. Mai 1989, im "Slalom" T-shirt Fragment, bei RARDE entdeckt worden, wurden folgende kriminelle Handlungen ausgeführt:
Auffällig ist, dass kurz vor der Beendigung des ersten Teil der "Examination Notes", von Dr. Thomas Hayes, mit dem Label PT-90 bezeichnete wurde. Allen Feraday bezeichnete seine "examination notes", mit Label PT/91.
Feraday vernichtete die Label: PT/92; PT/93; PT/94; (PT/95); PT/96; PT/97; PT/98; PT/99 !!!
Dr. Thomas Hayes and Allen Feraday needed some similar police Label, with date of January 13th, 1989, also for a criminal act against Libya!
Therefore the original police Label No. PT/95, was changed/falsified as follow:
> This police Label no. PT/95, became Label no. PI/995;
> The date, 13th of January 1989 (down left) remained existing and
became supplemented with the date, 17th of January 1989;
> The word "cloths", (charred), for the Article, became with the word
"DEBRIS" (charred) overwritten! (see photo Label PI/995)
1.> To demonstrate the liabillity the Label was later additionally signed by 5 further officials: Dr. Thomas Hayes; Allen Feraday; Derek Henderson; Ron McManus and Cal Mentoso.
MEBO Question: Did these people had to take the responsibility on themselves, if the criminal fraud would be noticed? And did each official have to secure himself face to face from the others? It is strange and not normal that the altered police Label no. PI/995 was signed by 7 officials...
(Lord Advocate Fraser's order was that police Labels must by signed by 2 officials).
2.> Dr. Hayes needed the manipulated police Label PI/995, for his mysterious eximination auxiliary side no. 51, from 12th of May 1989!
With this Label PI/995, expert Dr. Hayes marked only one plastic bag with contents.
From contents inside the plastic bag, Ref. PP'8932, was registered various material, which was found allegedly in Lockerbie by the police:
Among other things, a portion of the ? neckband of a grey? short, severely explosion damage localised penetrations and blackering. etc.;
Under the marking PT/35, a) several fragments of black plastics;
Under the marking PT/35, b) was an unknown "fragment of a green coloured circuit board", was registered and depictured on Ref. PP 8932, PI-995;
Under the marking PT/35, c) small fragments of metal + wire.
3.> On the original photo Ref, PP 8932, PI/995, the red encircled fragment shows not a green MST-13 circuit board fragment designated as PT-35, but a brown coloured fragment from a prototype.
The first evidence photography together with photo no. 334, shows the fragment of the circuit board in the original condition, before forensic sawing into two parts. (part. no. 353 = PT/35 (b); and part. no. 419 = DP/31(a).)
The fragment comes from a MEBO prototype timer MST-13 circuit board, brown coloured and has a in-scratched, well visible letter "M" on it.
4.> The fragment from photo Ref. PP 8932, PI/995 and photo no. 334, was -as can be proved-, (determined of visible technical characteristics) not green coloured, but brown! The delivered MST-13 timer to Libya were equipped with green circuit boards.
Thus the MST-13 fragment (PT/35) cannot be brought in connection with MST-13 timers, supplied to Libya!
5.> Dr. Hayes needed the altered label PI/995 in his falsified eximination report side no. 51, dated of May 12th 1989, to bring into the MST-13 fragment, as PT/35. The original side numbers, 51 to 55, were overwritten by Dr. Hayes with no. 52 to 56!
To the memory: Allen Feraday had discovered the MST-13 Fragment for the first time on 12th of January 1990 and Dr. Hayes booked back the date to May 12th 1989!!!
more on our webpage: www.lockerbie.ch
by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier,MEBO Ltd., Switzerland
What a load of garbage served up by Rifkind Jr!
ReplyDeleteHis dad, Rifkind Snr, was also pathetic when it came to explaining to Parliament why apartheid South Africa could not possibly extradite the 'Coventry Four' to stand trial for arms smuggling offences in the UK (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Four#Quid_pro_quo ).
Obviously, "Big Malc" didn't want to annoy Mrs Thatcher's apartheid South African friends - P W and Pik Botha - who were involved in targeting the UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing (see http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BerntCarlsson/ ).