Wednesday 13 July 2016

False evidence

[This is the heading over a letter from Dr Jim Swire published in today’s edition of The Times. It reads as follows:]

MI6 and Sir Richard Dearlove are not alone in contributing to misleading their politicians (“Intelligence source was a proven liar”, July 8).

During the trial of the so called Lockerbie bomber, Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, in 2000-01, the CIA trumpeted its “star witness” under the moniker of “Jiaka”. He had been on its payroll for years.

He was a Libyan informer who claimed to have seen the accused transiting Luqa airport in Malta, carrying a suitcase similar to that known to have housed the Lockerbie bomb. The judges at Zeist, in the Netherlands, insisted on access to CIA cables which exposed Jiaka as a fantasist and liar.

National intelligence structures may feel obligated to support their paymasters’ projects rather than the actual truth.

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