Saturday 28 November 2009

Seventeen year old press release treated as news by Sunday Times

[What follows are excerpts from a report in The Sunday Times. The document in question is a US State Department press release dating from April 1992 which appeared on the State Department website for many years and is well known to all who have taken the trouble to follow the Lockerbie case. What motivated the newspaper to draw it again to our attention in November 2009 is a mystery.]

The Lockerbie bomber was implicated in the purchase and development of chemical weapons by Libya, according to documents produced by the American government.

The papers also claim that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi sought to sponsor Latin American terrorist groups and to buy 1,000 letter bombs from Greek arms dealers while working as a Libyan intelligence officer. The documents, which were prepared by the US State Department, reveal the extent of Megrahi’s alleged terrorist activities. (...)

In 1987, Megrahi was appointed director of Libya’s Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS), which served the Department of Military Procurement. In a section headed “Procurement of chemical weapons precursors”, the documents state: “An al-Megrahi subordinate operating in Germany in 1988 played an important role in acquiring and shipping chemical weapons precursors to Libya. Megrahi is also linked to a senior manager of Libya’s chemical weapons development program.” (...)

Bill Aitken, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said the documents made a mockery of Britain’s ongoing trade links with Libya and the decision to release Megrahi. (...)

Tony Kelly, Megrahi’s lawyer in Scotland, said he was unaware of the existence of the State Department documents but was sure they were based on “unsubstantiated and unattributed intelligence rumours”.

“If there was any evidence backing any of this up I am absolutely certain it would have been introduced at trial, and it wasn’t,” he said.

6 comments:

  1. Also, so what? Reconising that there's no evidence Megrahi either bought the clothes from Gauci or smuggled a bomb on board KM180 doesn't require a belief that he was a saint. He was a Libyan intelligance agent, so in all probability not entirely clean-handed.

    That doesn't mean he was "the Lockerbie bomber" though. You need a bit more than a suggestion of unsavoury activities in other respects to get a conviction in Scotland, or so I thought.

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  2. MISSION LOCKERBIE. The second part of the Lockerbie-study of MEBO, will be published soon. Here a part of the chronology no. 2:

    The criminal manipulation police label (Lothian and Borders) was the foundation for the fraud with the MST-13 timer fragment (PT-35):

    Court Kamp van Zeist: Day 6, page 966:

    +++ 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:

    1. > The marking PI-995 of a fragment of a grey slalom shirt, was remodeled in a police Label No. PI-995 !

    2. > Dr. Thomas Hayes and Allen Feraday (RARDE) needed for a criminal act some similar police Label, with date from 13th of January 1989. To that was suitable the original police Label No. PT-95, which was abused and as follows changed/falsified became:

    > 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!

    3. > To demonstrate the liability 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 persons had to take the responsibility on themselves, if the criminal fraud would be noticed? And had every of these officials to secure himself face to face of 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).

    4. > Dr. Hayes needed the manipulated police Label PI-995, for its mysterious eximination auxiliary side no. 51, from 12th of May 1989 !
    With this Label PI-995, expert Dr. Hayes (RARDE) 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.

    5. > 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 on 27 April 1990, by Siemens AG at Germany.
    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.

    6. > 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.

    7. > Dr. Hayes needed the altered label PI-995 in his falsified eximination side no. 51 in its report, for bring into the MST-13 fragment, as PT-35, which existed only since January of 1990. The original side numbers, 51 to 55, were overwritten by Dr. Hayes with no. 52 to 56 !!!

    The complete study coming soon on our website: www.lockerbie.ch

    by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd., Switzerland

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  3. What motivated the newspaper to draw it again to our attention in November 2009 is a mystery.

    I would think the motivation is quite clear. The Sunday Times very often produces articles to help the government when in need.

    At the moment there is sadly increasing publicity over the fact that Megrhi has not died. I suspect very strongly that this news item has been published to divert attention away from this fact.

    I also very strongly believe that there is far more not known to the public about his release, information that the government would not want to come into the public domain.

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  4. This was a press release, part of the propaganda effort of which I recall the Sunday Times played a prominent part.

    The story quotes Frank Duggan that
    "this strengthens the case as against Megrahi being the Lockerbie bomber".

    On the contrary it strengthens the case that he was fitted-up.

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  5. The Times on Sunday article is a very positive signal. It shows that somebody out there is getting nervous. And he/they has/have a very bad conscience about the lacking evidence against Mr. Megrahi.

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  6. If you are going to murder 270 (269?) people and shoot women and children in the head I don't think "conscience"over the lack of evidence against Megrahi is going to be an issue.

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