The following story in the [Edinburgh] Evening News gives the perfect insight to the tactics opponents of Independence will use. Prospective Labour Councillor Bill Cook, believes the path to defeating the SNP is the 'Megrahi effect'. We released him, we did it for BP oil, on Westminster orders, we've embarrassed the nation, the USA hates us, our name is muck, we pander to terrorists, in short we're utterly useless and sanity will only be restored when Richard Baker goes to Libya, grabs Megrahi by the scruff of his neck and throws him back into his Greenock cell to die of his pretendy cancer.
The 'Megrahi effect' will be dribbled out day-after-day until the poor bastard dies, and other than 'compassion' and 'higher authority' our Scottish Government have run out of excuses. The startling lack of clarity in defending the release or even proffering a nod to the possibility that Megrahi might possibly be a victim of injustice is left ignored and unsaid. Everyone and his dog knows that the pressure on the Scottish Justice System (not for the first time) by Westminster and Washington to achieve a conviction on either of the two Lockerbie accused was immense. It didn't matter which one, as long as the West had a hate figure to blame for the destruction, we could all go back to sleeping soundly in our beds.
The stakes have increased with the senators who are vainly attempting to conflate Megrahi's release with BP winning licenses to drill for oil in Libya. All the while ignoring the fact that US oil giant Occidental have an operation in Libya twenty times the size that of BP's, all the while ignoring that fact that non US citizen employees of Occidental were moved to the Libyan Oil agency when the UN sanctions kicked in, and conveniently moved back to Occidental when they were lifted. The shell companies that Occidental set up in Switzerland surprisingly continued operating in Libya during the sanction years are, guess what, back in Occidental hands. Some might say that the USA oil grab never really ceased during the sanction years. All the while trading in black oil with the man their government are convinced ordered the murder of everyone on board Pan Am 103. (...)
The 'Megrahi Effect', how do we counter it, when our own government doesn't appear to have the balls to consider that something might be wrong with the Scottish Justice system?
[The above is from Newsnet Scotland's re-publication of a post from Mark MacLachlan's blog The Universality of Cheese.]
I note some discussion in the comments on that article, regarding Prof. Black's recent experience with the American film-maker. One poster reports:
ReplyDeleteI hasten to add that I've also discovered that Dr Jim Swire underwent similar treatment at the hands of this American director, one Phil Furey.
If that's true, it's despicable.
MISSION LOCKERBIE:
ReplyDeleteEs wäre interessant zu wissen wie die 'Scottish Justice' reagiert hätte, wenn das "Lockerbie-Urteil" gegen Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi umgekehrt (reziprok) ausgefallen wäre, d.h. Al-Megrahi unschuldig wie Khalifa Fhimah; und die SCCR-Commission hätte in den gleichen 6 Punkten ein mögliches "Miscarriage of Justic" zu Gunsten der 'Justiciary' prognostiziert ?
Ich glaube die Schuldfrage wäre längst rechtsgültig abgeklärt und ad acta gelegt worden.
Die Verschleppung der Wahrheitsfindung zeigt, dass die Scottish Justice verhindern will, dass neue entlastende Tatsachen und Beweise zugunsten Al-Megrahi und Libya aufgedeckt werden ! Unverzeilich (inexcusable) ...
Es ist kein Geheimnis mehr, d.h. nachweisbar, dass kriminelle Handlungen (Beweis-Manipulationen) von offiziellen Beamten bis heute von der 'Scottish Justice' unterschlagen werden !
Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Switzerland. URL: www.lockerbie.ch
MISSION LOCKERBIE:
ReplyDeleteMEBO veröffentlicht demnächst den Nachweis, dass das "improvised explosive device (IED) Bomb-Bag" zu 100%, am 21. Dezember 1988, nicht in Frankfurt sondern im Airport London Heathrow (LHR), auf PanAm Flug PA-103 eingeschleust wurde !
Computer translation "Babylon", German/English >>>
MEBO brings shortly the proof that the improvised explosive device (IED) "Bomb Bag" by 100%, on 21 December 1988, not at Frankfurt but in the airport London Heathrow (LHR), was smuggled in on PanAm flight PA-103 !
Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd., Switzerland.
The article Newsnet have posted, by Mark McLachlan includes the following line at the end.
ReplyDelete"The 'Megrahi Effect', how do we counter it, when our own government doesn't appear to have the balls to consider that something might be wrong with the Scottish Justice system?"
(I'm surprised NS allowed that bit to stay in!) : )
Maybe they didn't notice! :) :)
ReplyDeleteThe Edinburgh Evening News Story quoted by Prof. Black, with regard to statements made about US oil company Occidental (“Oxy”), is somewhat misleading:
ReplyDeleteIn Libya, foreign oil companies are required to form a joint company with the Libyan National Oil Company (“NOC”) to PRODUCE oilfields in Libya. Such joint venture companies are controlled by NOC, but often if not always the operator is the foreign partner. In Oxy’s case, prior to 1986, the original ownership of Occidental Libya was 51% NOC and 49% Oxy. Later Oxy sold about 25% of its stake to OMV of Austria.
Similarly there was another, far larger, company named Oasis Oil Company, originally owned by Conoco, Marathon, and Amerada Hess (all US companies). Shell bought Amerada’s interest, which Shell later sold to NOC.
In 1986 US President Ronald Reagan, by way of Executive Order, ordered all American companies to leave Libya; however, there had been considerable advance warning so that such American companies could set up foreign subsidiaries whereby they could continue to do business in Libya. Americans were not to be involved in the management of such businesses.
Oxy became Zueitina Oil Company, and Oasis became Waha Oil Company, and the profits and/or payment for assets nationalized by NOC that Oxy, Marathon and Conoco were entitled to were deposited in frozen bank accounts.
Conoco in particular was reported to have had several billion dollars in such a frozen bank account. These companies had an increasing interest to see an end to the Lockerbie standoff, which would enable them to access their billions that had accrued in bank accounts from Libyan operations during the sanctions.
Once the arrangements for the Trial were made, Oxy, Conoco and Marathon management were allowed to go to Libya to check on their investments. They found, quite to their surprise, that the Zueitina and Waha oil companies had been managed quite well in their absence. About 2002 the original Oasis partners officially re-established communications with NOC.
So the author’s claim that Oxy was “all the while trading in black oil” during the sanction years is probably quite inaccurate. In fact the new companies, Zueitina and Waha, made all decisions with Oxy, Marathon and Conoco being absent from the decision making chain while their compensation was deposited in frozen bank accounts.
This post is not meant to be extremely accurate in its detail, rather it is meant to generally outline what occurred with respect to US oil company interests in Libya post Lockerbie.