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| Lockerbie: FBI Investigator Debates OMNI Reporter |
| An exchange between Prof. De Braeckeleer and author Richard Marquise |
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Ludwig De Braeckeleer (ludwig)  |
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Published 2008-02-27 13:57 (KST) |
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Pouvait-on naitre condamne?
En ce cas, on m avait menti.
L ordre du Monde cachait d intolerables desordres. [1]
Les mots
Jean-Paul Sartre
My last OMNI piece on the Lockerbie bombing has generated quite a bit of discussion which I would like to share with our readers. Some letters were very complimentary. However, the story was heavily criticized by a well-informed reader.
Richard Marquise, the former FBI agent, who led the Lockerbie task force, told me that the article contains many factual errors. [2] Allow me to review the position of both sides. Upon completion of this article, I emailed the piece to Marquise who added a few additional comments. These appear in bold characters. [3]
The Proponents
"Dr Ludwig de Braeckeleer has published a Lockerbie article under the headline Chronicle of a Death Foretold. It is concerned particularly with the warnings that were received before the destruction of Pan Am 103 and with how those warnings were responded to or not, as the case may be. The article is a mine of useful information on the Lockerbie tragedy and will be required reading for all who have an interest in the affair," wrote Pr Black, also known as the architect of the Lockerbie trial. [4]
The comment is highly significant for Pr Black has been shown the official minutes of the investigation. Pr Black has said that, not long after the crime had been committed, suspects were on the verge of being arrested...and they were not Libyans. [5]
MARQUISE
I am not sure what the "official minutes" of the investigation are. I know that both the FBI and Scottish police wrote a final report which outlined all what we did but the bottom line we concluded there was enough evidence to indict Megrahi and Fhimah -- that is all. I doubt that Prof Black has ever seen the report.
"Your article is correct... I have been convinced, since the accusation was made, that Megrahi was not guilty of the destruction of Pan Am 103," told me Charles Norrie who lost his brother in the bombing of UT-772, sometimes referred to as the French Lockerbie.
"Your last piece was very refreshing in that it drew attention back to some of the really meaty issues, such as who decided the attack must be made, who carried it out, and why was the flight not protected in view of all the warnings, which seemed to have been sufficient to lead to cancellations. Those are the issues that matter so much to us, wrote Dr Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the tragedy. [6]
The Criticism
"Dear Ludwig, clearly you have an agenda as it evidenced by your recent article. [...] Many people will not see what you have done but it is clear, you, like most others have no idea what happened," Marquise wrote to me.
"I only feel bad that someone so highly educated and trained has fallen into all these traps and has taken half facts, false facts and "intelligence" and woven a story you find so much more believable."
"At some point I plan to dissect your most recent article and point out the flaws. I only believe that there is so much information out there that much of it has become to be accepted as fact when in fact it is not. We found no evidence that Talb was in Malta on 11/23."
I thus suggested to Marquise that we review together the last two articles I had written on Lockerbie. "I welcome the opportunity to debate the issues, if not in person, then electronically," Marquise replied.
In this piece, I will focus on the issues raised by Marquise concerning the summary of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, i.e. the text under the subtitle "Ockam's Razor." In a follow-up, I will address the questions Marquise raised about the main body of that article as well as those concerning a previous publication, Confession of an Iranian Terror Czar.
Before addressing these questions, I wish to point out to the readers that, although Marquise and I would appear at first to greatly disagree on this affair, the former FBI investigator does not rule out that I could be right when I state that the bombing had been ordered by Tehran, and contracted to one or most likely several Palestinian terror organizations operating from an heroin-producing, Syrian occupied, part of Lebanon, in order to avenge the downing of an Iranian airliner by the USS Vincennes a few months earlier.
MARQUISE
It is fair to say that a bombing may have been ordered by Iran but I do not know if it was PA 103.
"I never have said the evidence against Megrahi was direct or overwhelming but there is more evidence to implicate him, and Libya, than there is EVIDENCE to convict Jaffar, Jibril, Dalkamoni, Iran, Syria, etc...
All we had with them is lots of "intelligence", but no EVIDENCE. I cannot make that point more strenuously," wrote marquise to me earlier this month.
"Did we convict all those involved? As you said yourself, there are probably more people involved than one man sitting in a Scottish prison. No we did not. And they live in Libya for certain. And no one ever said it was Libya and Libya alone. That is the only direction the EVIDENCE flowed," Marquise added.
OMNI
Incidentally, on both sides of the Atlantic, claims were actually made that Libya, and Libya alone, had paid for, planned and carried out the bombing of Pan Am 103.
"This was a Libyan Government operation from start to finish," declared the US State Department Spokesman. [7] (New York Times Nov. 15 1991) British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd made a similar claim.
MARQUISE
Unfortunately, "politicians" on both sides of the Atlantic felt compelled to say this. Bob Mueller was then in the DOJ and he did an interview the evening of the indictments and he said we would rule anything out -- just that the evidence which had been developed led to the two indicted. I can probably find the exact quote as I have the tapes from that day at home.
OMNI
US President George H.W. Bush even apologized to Damascus for the fact that they had been suspected of the crime by US Intelligence. "The Syrians took a bum rap on this," Bush said. [8] (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 15 1991)
MARQUISE
"Did Iran contract with the PFLP-GC? Probably - although, it cannot be proven in court. Did Iran ask Libya and Abu Nidal, as you stated in an earlier article? Perhaps - although that too cannot be proven and never will be unless a reliable witness or two comes forward with documentary evidence," Marquise argued.
OMNI reminds the readers that, according to the indictment, the explosive that destroyed Pan Am 103 had been hidden in a Toshiba radio, surrounded by clothes bought in Malta a few weeks before the bombing, and placed in an unaccompanied brown Samsonite luggage that began its journey in Malta, was transferred a first time in Frankfurt and transferred again in London on Pan Am 103
Questions From Marquise and Replies from OMNI
MARQUISE
"You chose to sum up your findings in the last two pages and I need to address them specifically.
OMNI
In order to facilitate comments and further discussion, the paragraphs of the conclusion have been numbered from one to twenty.
§1 The 14th century English friar and logician William of Ockham is credited to have been the first to suggest the principle according to which the simplest explanation that fits all known facts is usually the right one. Allow me to review the facts.
§2 Following the Vincennes attack, the Iranian Ambassador at the UN told the world in no ambiguous terms that Iran will seek revenge. In Tehran, Mostashemi, the Iranian Minister of the Interior, promised that the skies will rain blood.
MARQUISE
I agree with this. The USS Vincennes incident was terrible and I, as most decent people, regret the loss of innocent life.
I agree with little that [former CIA operative] Robert Baer says but I agree that there were intelligence warnings that Iran would strike a blow against the US after the Vincennes. However, all the allegations in the world do not add up to one iota of EVIDENCE.
Intelligence is only that and it is often sent out without being vetted, thus the fact that "US Intelligence distributed to the entire Desert Storm coalition unverified information" is probably true.
I stand by my statement that the intelligence summary prepared by the Air Force which blamed the attack on Iran was only that -- an intelligence summary -- a guesstimate not based on any evidence which would stand up in court.
§3 Mostashemi, and top other Iranian officials, held a series of meetings in Beirut with several members of a well known organization, the PFLP-GC, led by Ahmed Jibril. Iran has colluded with the PFLP-GC before and after the Lockerbie bombing.
MARQUISE
I am not certain about this. Where is proof of prior collaboration?
OMNI REPLY
According to former intelligence officials, such Vincent Cannistraro the CIA's chief of counter-terrorism at the time, top figures in the Iranian government held a series of meetings in Beirut with leaders of Ahmed Jibril's terror group, the PFLP-GC, in the summer 1988.
"There was a conclusion made in the intelligence community that the Iranians were intending to sponsor the PFLP-GC's operations to attack American targets as part of a revenge operation," Cannistraro said. [9] (Shadow over Lockerbie)
"Just days after the downing of an Iranian Airliner by the USS Vincennes, An Iranian Intelligence officer is said to have met two officials of the PFLP-GC in Lebanon: Muhammad Hafiz Dalkamoni and a man only known by the CIA as Nabil." [10] (The Scotsman June 29 2007)
MARQUISE
Let s recall one thing -- it was an intelligence estimate which led to war in Iraq. Are you still wanting to believe all the things they say -- but can rarely prove? Remember one big thing -- intelligence is often no more than an educated guess. Evidence must be concrete, provable and must stand scrutiny in court -- a far cry from intelligence.
OMNI
Incidentally, to my knowledge, the only member of the group going by that name is Nabil Maksomi, a telephone engineer and the communication expert of the PFLP-GC.
Before answering the specific question about the proof of previous collusions between the PFLP-GC, Syria, Libya and Iran, I wish to argue a point that may surprise some readers.
In the context of the present story, I claim that it would be largely academic, mostly artificial and certainly misguiding to attempt to articulate differences between various terrorist groups such as the PLFP-GC of Jibril, the Abu Nidal Group, the PPSF, or the Hezbollah.
Moreover, I think that it would be equally erroneous to try to pinpoint a single sponsor of these organizations for a given operation. Simply stated, I do not believe that the Western lines of thought, such as Left vs. Right wing politics or Secular vs. Religious, apply to this area. In my opinion, the old Arabic saying is more appropriate.
"I against my brother. I and my brother against my cousin. I, my brother, and my cousin against the rest of the world."
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) is usually described as a pan-Arab, secular, Marxist-Leninist group. Yet, in the early 90s, the group adopted a religion inspired rhetoric which is quite unique for such organization. On March 5 1989 Jibril pledged to carry out "the Islamic verdict, to protect Islam and its prophet."
Ahmed Jibril, who had served in the Syrian army with the rank of captain, formed the PFLP-GC in October 1968. Jibril broke away from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine for political reasons. Among Palestinian organizations, the PFLP-GC stands out for its adamant rejection of any political settlement with Israel.
Since its creation, the PFLP-GC has received financial assistance from Syria, Libya and Iran. The sponsor from such sates has enabled the group to operate in the international arena to achieve its aims, namely to consistently and systematically oppose negotiations with Israel. [11] (THE PFLP- GC)
Syria has always been the chief backer of the PFLP-GC, giving it logistical and military support. According to a well informed organization, Syria continued during the late 80s and early 90s to provide political and material support for Palestinian groups who maintain their headquarters in Damascus and who have committed terrorist acts in the past.
"Most notably, the PFLP-GC operates its propaganda radio station, al Quds, broadcasts from Syrian soil. Syria also hosts the Abu Musa group, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)." [12] (Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1990)
When Syria's economy declined, towards the end of the 80s, the PFLP-GC sought additional state sponsors.
The group was able to procure the assistance of Libya in 1986. Some of the most spectacular attacks of PFLP-GC, such as the unconventional attacks on Israel using motorized hang-gliders and hot-air balloons, are believed to have been funded by Qadhafi.
It has been alleged that Qadhafi relinquished terrorism in 1989 and expelled the PFLP-GC from Libya. This allegation is certainly disputed. The document "Patterns of Global Terrorism 1990" states that Libya may retain ties to it. [13] (Terrorism: Middle Eastern Groups)
"Qadhafi's claims of having expelled certain terrorist groups -- the PLF, ANO, and PFLP-GC -- remained unsubstantiated as of the end of 1990. Libya also resumed funding to the PFLP-GC, and possibly other Palestinian terrorist groups, in 1990." [14] (Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1990)
Wherever lies the truth, it certainly appears that, in the alter 1980s, the PFLP-GC also built a close relationship with Iran, and began to receive Iranian financial assistance, although Jibril himself has denied that he was receiving funds from Tehran. Jibril had already identified himself with Iran since 1983. [14-a]
In the late 80s, Iranian support for terrorism included extensive support for Hezbollah, the PFLP-GC, the PIJ, and other groups. Help from Tehran to these organizations included provision of arms, funding, and training.
Links between the PFLP-GC and Iran became closer in December 1987. Ahmed Jibril and Ali Akbar Velayati, the Iranian Foreign Minister at the time, met in Tripoli, Libya. During their meeting, Jibril conveyed to Velayati his support "for the Islamic Revolution", and the rhetoric of the PFLP-GC began to change.
Soon after that meeting, Jibril began to collaborate with Tehran to create "an Islamic organization for the liberation of Palestine." Replacing the PLO has been a constant objective of Jibril who always resented a deep rooted hate for Arrafat. In April 1988, representatives of the PFLP-GC, the FRC and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad met in Libya to discuss the creation of such organization.
In September 1988 a major conference was held in Tehran to elaborate plans to intensify attacks against Israel. Velayati himself chaired the meeting.
Ahmed Jibril, leaders of the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah and of the Lebanese Sunni militia Tawhid, Ahmed Jibril and Abu Musa attended the meeting.
In December, Jibril called for the establishment of a "formal Palestinian-Iranian alliance" Before the end of the year, such an alliance was formed between the PFLP-GC, the FRC, and Hezbollah High ranking Hezbollah activists allegedly discussed with the PFLP-GC plans to bomb American and French targets. [14-b]
Major terrorist figures, including Ahmed Jibril and Dalkamoni (also a member of Syrian Security) of the PFLP-GC and various prominent members of Hezbollah, frequently visited Iran.
"Iran hosted a World Conference on Palestine in Tehran in December in an effort to gain increasing influence over Islamic affairs, in general, and over the Palestinian movement, in particular. Leaders of several radical Palestinian and Lebanese groups including Salqa, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad attended." [15] (Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1990)
"We fight together with our Hezbollah brothers," Ahmed Jibril said in a long interview to the Arabic weekly Al-Wasat, published in London. "For example, 24 hours ago, we were in a single action in the south Lebanon against the common enemy (Israel)."
"These links are open to all fighters. We have repeatedly told the Palestinians and the Lebanese who are rising up in the south to coordinate positions with us, for the benefit of both sides," Jibril declared.
"We do not deny that we have made a pact with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad, or that there is full coordination between us and these elements. I will give an example: several days ago, we carried out a joint operation against the Israeli enemy in which one of our brothers from Hizbullah participated in which a Merkava tank was completely blown up, its pieces scattering in all directions," Jibril has also said. [16] (Indirect strategies in the middle-east: the rules of the game -1990)
During Israel occupation of a strip of southern Lebanon, which ended in May 2000, several hundred guerrillas of the PFLP-GC fought against Israeli forces alongside Hezbollah. Starting in the alter 80s, the PFLP-GC began to act more in response to orders from Teheran than those from Damascus. [17] (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Closer Cooperation between Jibril and Hezbollah)
Incidentally, it has always been common knowledge in Lebanon that the Majlis Choura (the consultative assembly) met in Baalbek, under Syrian control, prompting some observers to raise quite interesting questions.
"Does the relative autonomy the Majlis enjoys in the southern suburbs make it freer to act? And does it mean that Syria would seem innocent if the Hezbollah undertook a trans-national terrorist campaign?"
Allow me now to focus on the direct alleged role of Ali Akbar Mostashemi in various acts of terrorism. The former Minister of Interior at the time of the Lockerbie bombing is thought to have played an active role in the supervision of Hezbollah's suicide bomb attacks against the American embassy in Beirut in April 1983, the American and French contingents of the Multi National Force in October 1983 and the American embassy annex in September 1984. [18] (Foreign Report, 20 June 1985) [19, 20] (New York Times, 2 November 1983; and 5 October 1984)
Ali Akbar Mostashemi is believed to have been instrumental in the killing of Lt. Col. William Higgins.
"The killing of Higgins is said to have come from orders issued by Iranian radicals, most notably Mohtashemi, in an effort to prevent improvement in the U.S.-Iranian relationship." [21] (Ranstorp, Hizb'allah, 1997, p.146)
Higgins was the American Chief of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization's (UNTSO) observer group in Lebanon. On February 17 1988, he was taken hostage by Lebanese pro-Iranian Shia radicals.
In my opinion, the best documented operations involving most of the Lockerbie actors, such as Jibril, al Kassar and various top officials from Damascus and Tehran, are the Buenos Aires bombings. (See Confession of an Iranian Terror Czar)
MARQUISE
Much of the above is based on intelligence or is speculation and thus has to be examined in that light.
§4 The PFLP-GC was the logical choice for several reasons. The Palestinian group operated in Lebanon under Syrian protection and enjoyed a special relation with Mostashemi who had been the Iranian Ambassador to Damascus in the 80s. [22]
MARQUISE
Where does this "fact" come from?
OMNI REPLY
Mohtashemi-Pour had been an Interior Minister for four years and was widely regarded as playing a crucial role in the formation of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement in his capacity as Iran's ambassador to Syria in the early 1980s. [23] (The Origins of Iran's Reformist Elite)
§5 The organization had the know-how to manufacture timing devices involving an air-pressure switch for bombs to detonate aboard airplanes. Jibril had operating cells in Europe, including in Germany and Sweden. Last, but not least, Syrian drug Barron al Kasaar, and former associate of Oliver North, could easily bypass the security of Frankfurt airport, thanks to several baggage handlers working for his organization.
MARQUISE
Here you imply the bomb went on the plane in Germany. However, pressure switch device would only allow the plane to go up one time before detonation which would have blown plane up between Germany and London. OK -- here you have to make a decision -- did the bomb go on in London or Frankfurt? You later say you are convinced London so this is all irrelevant.
OMNI REPLY
This question is answered in this article under §11. I argue that the bomb was armed in London.
§6 In September, Jibril sent Dalkamoni, his most trusted lieutenant, to Germany in order to organize a cell which, with the collaboration of another PFLP-GC cell from Sweden, had for mission to construct bomb specifically designed to destroy airliners. A few weeks later, Jibril ordered Khreesat, one of his two senior bomb-makers, to join Dalkamoni in Germany.
MARQUISE
I agree.
§7 In late October, the German authorities arrested most members of both cells. They found four devices built into domestic objects, such as radios and televisions, as well as Pan Am timetables. Several members of the terrorist organization escaped the raid, including Abu Ellias and Abu Talb. A CIA-BKA asset told the FBI that Dalkamoni had passed one bomb to Ellias. Two PFLP-GC members, Goben and Tunayb, have revealed that Ellias planted the bomb in Jafaar luggage.
MARQUISE
Not sure where this "fact" comes from. Again, if planted in Jafaar's luggage -- bomb had to have gone on the plane in Frankfurt and should have exploded between Germany and London. No evidence that Abu Talb was part of this cell. Talb belonged to another similar group in Sweden.
OMNI REPLY
The first part of this comment is answered later in the article under §11. I do agree that Talb is not a member of the PFLP-GC, but I feel that this is largely irrelevant for reasons that I explain bellow.
"Abu Talb has no relationship in any direct or indirect way with the PFLP-GC and he was never a member of the group," Talal Naji said in an interview. Naji was the deputy secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC). [24] (Palestinian radicals deny bomb link)
However, Abu Talb was linked through relatives to the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine- General Command (PFLP-GC) and was an active member of the lesser-known PPSF.
The Palestine Popular Struggle Front was a close allied of the General Command and its leader, Ahmed Jibril.
Operatives of the PFLP-GC and members of, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) were responsible for a wave of assaults during 1985 Jewish, Israeli and American objectives in Scandinavia and Netherlands.
The head of Syrian military intelligence, Ali Duba, is said to have activated these cells and was reportedly also involved in the establishment of the PFLP-GC infrastructure in West Germany and Sweden.
In May 1989, Swedish police arrested 15 members of the PFLP-GC and the Palestine Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) linked to these attacks. The two organizations collaborated so closely that Swedish investigators were unable to determine their affiliations with certainty. [25] (Sponsoring Terrorism: Syria and the PFLP-GC by Gary C. Gambill)
Important Comment
In the verdict -- paragraph 77 -- the Judges wrote that "Abo Talb's wife, whom he married in 1979, and their children also live in Sweden, in Uppsala. So do a number of members of her family and other Arabs with whom Abo Talb associated. In particular, when Abo Talb was arrested in 1989 in connection with the bombings in Copenhagen and Amsterdam (and also one in Stockholm of which he was acquitted) his wife's brothers Mahmud and Mustafa Al Mougrabi were also arrested. [...]
In 1988 Mohamed Al Mougrabi visited Hashem Abassi in Neuss and met Dalkamoni at a time when bombs were being manufactured there by Marwan Khreesat. Also there at the same time were two others (a brother and a cousin of Martin Imandi) who were later smuggled into Sweden by Mohamed Al Mougrabi.
In addition, Ahmed Abassi, who also lived in Uppsala and knew both Abo Talb and Mohamed Al Mougrabi, was staying with his brother Hashem in Neuss at the time of the Autumn Leaves raids. [...]
We should also record that when Abo Talb's house was searched by police following his arrest in 1989 a barometric device was found. Abo Talb in his evidence said that that belonged to his brother-in-law Mahmud Al Mougrabi, who lived in the same house"
MARQUISE
????? What barometric device? (OMNI note to the readers: That is what the verdict says, NOT OMNI!)
OMNI
Obviously, the paragraph of the opinion is written by confused people or, possibly and, to confuse people. For indeed, by failing to identify Mohamed al Mougrabi and Hashem Abassi, the judges twice break the chain of causality, a significant mistake in any system.
I dare say that the reader would understand these disconnected events very differently if he-she is told that Mohamed al Mougrabi is the brother of Talb's wife and that Hashem Abassi is the brother-in-law of Dalkamoni.
MARQUISE
I am vague today on these relationships and this will require more research.
OMNI
This shows very clearly that the three judges failed to grasp the soundness and significance of the special defense of incrimination submitted to them at the Zeist trail.
KHREESAT - In November 1989, FBI agent Marshman was sent to Jordan where he interviewed Khreesat. Jordanian intelligence chiefs adamantly refused to release Khreesat for the Lockerbie trial. As a result, Marshman was summoned to the Zeist court to disclose what Khreesat told him.
On October 24, Khreesat, having been working for five hours on the bombs, decided to take a break and enjoy a shower. Dalkamoni told him that he was leaving for Frankfurt. When Khreesat returned to his work, one of the five bombs was missing. The next day, he informed his controlling officer in Jordanian intelligence that one of the five bombs he had made had been passed on to Abu Elias. [26] (The Khreesat Connection, Private Eye, January 2001)
"The immediate feeling was: we've missed someone. That someone in that [PFLP-GC] cell had escaped with one of the explosive devices and succeeded in planting it on Pan Am 103," Cannistraro, then head of the CIA's Lockerbie investigation, has admitted.
MARQUISE
He is guessing!
OMNI
On March 29, 1991, the Dumfries and Galloway police issued a report entitled Bombing of Pan Am 103: "Interview of Marwan Abdel Razzaq Mufit Khreesat as a suspect."
MARQUISE
I have never seen this and doubt any such report exists. Certainly Khreesat was a suspect but remember Scottish police never laid eyes on or talked to Khreesat so other than what they read -- that is the sum of their information. It is the same as my having to rely on what the Scottish officers say they found in the fields. I was NOT there.
OMNI
"There can be little doubt that Khreesat is the bomb-maker for the PFLPGC and there is a possibility that he prepared the explosive device which destroyed PA-103. As such he should not be at liberty," the Scottish police's report concluded.
If the bomb that exploded Pan Am 103 was indeed made by a CIA asset, then the Agency is at least responsible of grave negligence. If the route used to infiltrate the bomb was the one used by the DEA to run controlled delivery of heroin from the Beeka valley to Detroit, and known to use Pan Am Trough Frankfurt, the DEA shares responsibility for the tragedy.
MARQUISE
Here is FRA again -- which airport is it? If London then all this has to come out.
OMNI
As it is abundantly clear that neither agencies, let alone their employer, would ever recognize their responsibility in the affair, it could very well explain what many have described as a boundless cover-up. It could also explain a couple of mysterious quotes from US top officials.
Gene Wheaton, a retired US military-intelligence officer with 17 years' duty in the Middle East, has served as investigator for the families of the victims of the suspicious DC-8 crash in Gander, Newfoundland, which killed 248 American soldiers in 1985.
"A couple of my old black ops buddies in the Pentagon believe the Pan Am bombers were gunning for McKee's hostage-rescue team," Wheaton said. "But they were told to shift the focus of their investigation because it revealed an embarrassing breakdown in security." The FBI found no evidence to support the theory that McKee's team was targeted.
MARQUISE
"Buddies believe -- that is not even intelligence so cannot be believed.
OMNI
When the PCAST members met a group of British PA103 relatives at the US embassy in London on February 12 1990, a member of the Commission told Martin Cadman: "Your government and ours know exactly what happened. But they're never going to tell."
MARQUISE
We did tell -- in the indictment
OMNI
Goben, also known as the "professor", was a trained chemical engineer and an explosive expert. In 1989, he narrowly escaped capture and managed to flee a PFLP-GC safe house in Krusevac in the former Yugoslavia. The material used by Khreesat to build the bombs in Germany is believed to have come from this safe house.
Goben eventually traveled to Syria, where he remained until his death in 1996. Before he died, he recorded a story. The Thirty-six typed pages is known as the Goben Memorandum.
"Goben describes the exploits and inner workings of the PFLP-GC and lays the blame of the Pan Am bombing firmly at the door of the PFLP-GC. The Memorandum claims that the explosives that blew up Pan Am 103 were secreted in the luggage of a young Lebanese-American passenger, Khaled Jaafar. According the Goben, the explosives were placed in Jaafar's baggage without his knowledge by Abu Elias, another bombmaker within the PFLP-GC."
MARQUISE
OK, if you believe this then the bomb went on the plane in Frankfurt.
OMNI
"The Court took the Goben Memorandum seriously enough to grant the defense a motion for the issuing of a Letter of Request to be sent to the Government of Syria." [27] (The Syrian connection)
§8 Jafaar met Talb in Sweden and then Jibril in Germany, in mid December. It seems that Jibril convinced Jafaar to carry heroin to the US. A witness described Jafaar as suspiciously agitated as he was waiting to board on Pan Am 103.
MARQUISE
No evidence Jafaar ever went to Sweden and based on the timeline and interviews with his hosts in Germany, who testified at trial, he never had time to go to Sweden or meet Jibril.
OMNI REPLY
In Allan Francovich's film, members of Khalid Jaafar's family, which long had ties to the drug trade in Lebanon's notorious Bekaa Valley, are interviewed. One of them unambiguously states for the record that Khalid Jaafar had told his parents that he had d met Talb in Sweden and had been given Maltese clothing.
Moreover, the family member told Francovich that someone had given Khalid a tape recorder, or put one into his bag ... and that Jaafar was told to go to Germany to meet friends of PFLP-GC leader Ahmed Jabril.
MARQUISE
I believe none of the Francovich film
MARQUISE
Who was the witness who saw Jafaar acting strange?
OMNI REPLY
"In the queue to pass through passport control he was closely observed by another passenger, Yasmin Siddique, who travelled only to London, and was not seen to be carrying any luggage. The reason for leading the evidence of this other passenger was that she observed him, as she thought, to be acting somewhat suspiciously. The suggestion appeared to be that he was nervous and this might be because he had infiltrated something onto PA103A." [28]
(See the Verdict at paragraph 75.)
MARQUISE
I stand corrected on this. I have since read her testimony.
§9 The Germans tested one of these bombs by taking it up in a 747. They established that a bomb detonated by these timers would go off between 32 and 42 minutes after take-off. Flight 103 was in the air for 38 minutes before it blew up, right in the middle of the time frame. OK -- now you are back to London as the ingestion point.
MARQUISE
Here you are now taking the position the bomb went on the plane in London -- 38 minutes after takeoff, in Jafaar's suitcase, would have caused a crash over Europe -- not Scotland.
OMNI REPLY
This comment is answered below under §11 for reasons that the readers will understand.
§10 Last October, former CIA operative Robert Baer told David Horovitz that the bomb, which exploded on Pan Am 103, was one of Dalkamoni devices. [29]
MARQUISE
How in the heck does he know? Baer never had anything to do with the Lockerbie investigation.
OMNI REPLY
I do not wish to speak for Robert Baer. Perhaps, Baer could answer that question himself.
§11 A high ranking Iranian defector testified that Iranian agents planted the bomb parts in Frankfurt, and that the bomb was assembled in London. (See Confession of an Iranian Terror Czar) Jibril and Kasaar were seen having diner alone in a Paris restaurant just weeks before the bombing. The BKA concluded that the bomb started its journey in Frankfurt.
MARQUISE
I think we are talking about Behbehani, who did not testify and this is not what he said.
OMNI REPLY
No, I am not referring to Behbehani whom I have discussed at length in a recent article. (The issues raised by Marquise about Behbehani will be discussed in a follow up.) Here, I actually refer to someone only known as Mesbahi.
MARQUISE
I do not know who he is
OMNI
In July 1997, German prosecutors interviewed Abolghasem Mesbahi, also known as witness "C", in a case concerning the assassination of several Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Germany. Abolghasem Mesbahi is actually an alias used by a former high ranking Iranian intelligence agent, believed to be the son of one of the fathers of the Islamic Revolution.
German Law Authorities came to regard Mesbahi as a credible witness. In fact, based on his testimony, an Iranian and four Lebanese were convicted of killing several Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Germany.
Mesbahi told investigators that Iran had asked Libya and Abu Nidal, a Palestinian guerrilla leader, to carry out the attack on the Boeing 747 jet.
According to Mesbahi, Iran planned the attack as revenge after the U.S. cruiser Vincennes shot down an Iran Air Airbus over the Strait of Hormuz earlier in 1988.
Mesbahi alleged that parts of the bomb were put on a plane at Frankfurt airport, later assembled in London and finally loaded onto Pan Am 103.
MARQUISE
Now we are saying the bomb was assembled in London--what happened to the Jafaar connection? He was only in London long enough to go from one aircraft to another -- 5:40 to 6:03 -- when doors were closed.
Wait. You say in this paragraph here also the bomb left from Frankfurt -- pressure switch should have gone off in Europe.
OMNI REPLY
Before I answer these questions, I wish to remind the reader that the FBI failed to establish how the bomb could have started its journey at Luqa airport, Malta. The FBI allegation failed to convince the judges, the relatives, and even the FBI investigators themselves.
MARQUISE
This is not true. There is the report from FRA introduced at trial. I am aware of the FBI SA report which said it was possible that there may not have been a rogue bag. I have my own opinion on this report but believe the FRA baggage record speaks for itself.
OMNI
"If therefore the unaccompanied bag was launched from Luqa, the method by which that was done is not established, and the Crown accepted that they could not point to any specific route by which the primary suitcase could have been loaded." (Verdict, §39)
"The story about Megrahi role in putting a device aboard at Luqa, Malta has always been transparent nonsense," wrote Dr Swire to me on January 11 of this year.
A priority teletype sent from the US embassy in Bonn to the FBI Director on October 23 1989 reveals that the FBI investigators had no evidence that the bag was planted at Luqa.
"There remains the possibility that no luggage was transferred from Air Malta 180 to Pan Am 103," the teletype states.
Granada Television Broadcast was sued by Air Malta after it produced a documentary in which it is alleged that the bomb was planted at Luqa. Granada accepted substantial damages in an out of court settlement. Is it not amazing that the unsubstantiated allegation could not stand a charge of libel but could convict a man of having murder 270 persons?
I will now answer the question concerning the timing of the explosion. According to Mesbahi, the bomb parts were introduced at Frankfurt but the bomb was assembled in London. If Mesbahi told the truth, the bomb would not have been activated by the Frankfurt - London flight.
The reader should keep in mind that Mesbahi was considered by German Law Authority as an entirely reliable witness. Based on his testimony, they not only convicted five men in several murder cases, they also, for the first time ever, directly implicated top Iranian officials causing major diplomatic and commercial tensions.
Mesbahi had no reasons to fabricate a story, let alone to incriminate Iran in the Lockerbie bombing. Based on his testimony against the killers of the Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Berlin, he had already gained asylum and protection.
Yet, he goes on to link Tehran to the bombing of Pan Am 103 and makes a very complex allegation, namely that the bomb was planted unassembled in Frankfurt and then put together in London. And it turns out that this modus operandi is perfectly compatible with the missing IED made by Khreesat.
MARQUISE
I do not know anything about this witness. Why did he not testify at trial??
MARQUISE
I have no information about the Jibril / Kassar meeting in Paris but fail to see how it links to Lockerbie if in fact it even happened.
OMNI REPLY
Allow me to put one and one together. We know that Jibril had set up a cell at Neuss, Germany, near Frankfurt. And we know that the cell was building bombs specifically designed to explode airplanes in flight. Moreover, it is also known that al Kassar was using Turkish workers at Frankfurt airport to smuggle heroin to United States. Knowing that the FBI had uncovered no evidence that the bomb started it journey at Luqa, why on Earth would you not investigate this possibility?
Roland O'Neill, a Pan Am baggage handler at Frankfurt, stated that he feared he has unwittingly put the bomb aboard the aircraft? [30] (Glasgow Sunday Herald April 17 2000)
MARQUISE
OK, now you are back to saying the bomb went on the plane in FRA!
§12 During the first appeal, in 2002, it was revealed that there had been a break-in at Heathrow the night before the bombing. The Iranian Air facility was immediately adjacent to the baggage assembly area where transit luggage for Flight 103 was loaded.
MARQUISE
What does this have to do with the bombing? Did the bomb somehow come from Jafaar's luggage to Iran Air -- not sure how this fits?
OMNI REPLY
The question was answered above. But I wish to emphasize another point. The break-in, allegedly a rare occurrence event, was never investigated. Why on earth not?
§13 The chief baggage handler, John Bedford, testified that, when he returned from a coffee break, he saw two additional suitcases had been loaded into the relevant container for Flight 103. See above
§12 The crash investigators established that the explosion occurred precisely where those cases had been placed, above a single layer of baggage that Bedford had already packed into the container.
MARQUISE
OK. I agree.
MARQUISE
My recollections about this are vague after all these years.
§15 The day prior to the bombing, various Intelligence Agencies intercepted communications informing Iranian Officials of the whereabouts of McKee and his rescue team.
MARQUISE
I assume this is important because Jaffar was going to plant the bomb which would kill McKee and his team.
OMNI REPLY
If Tehran was absolutely opposed to the release of the hostages -- they were actually at odd with Hezbollah who felt that the hostage issue had become counterproductive to their cause -- one can safely assume that they would do whatever it takes to prevent their rescue. Thus, it seems to me that any information concerning surveillance of McKee by Tehran agents in the days prior to his death may be relevant to the investigation.
Again, how could the FBI rule out that the bombers were gunning for McKee if such obvious clues were not investigated in depth?
§16 Two day after the bombing, communication intercepts indicate that Tehran ordered their Ambassador in Beirut to pay Jibril Organization for the successful operation. The transfer of the money is recorded and Dalkamoni was in possession of the Paris bank account number when he was arrested.
MARQUISE
I am aware of some of this. It is classified but has nothing to do with Lockerbie or a PAYMENT.
OMNI REPLY
Patrick Lang, chief of the DIA's Middle East section at the time, has stated that he "signed off" on the DIA's conclusion. "The bombing of the Pan Am flight was conceived, authorized and financed by Ali-Akbar Mohtashemi-Pur, the former Iranian minister of Interior."
MARQUISE
Intelligence guesstimate not based on evidence.
OMNI
"The operation was contracted to Ahmad Jibril for $1 million," said a September 24, 1989 MEMO. "The remainder was to be paid after successful completion of the mission." "I still agree with that. We felt quite sure that this was a PFLP thing," Lang said.
So, we know that a payment from Tehran to Jibril organization was expected after completion of the operation. The transfer of money is recorded 2 days after the downing of Pan Am 103. And we are asked to believe in the name of National Security that the transfer has nothing to do with Lockerbie?
§17 Dalkamoni was rewarded for his services to the "Islamic revolutionary struggle against the West." The Iranian citation praises Dalkamoni for achieving the greatest-ever strike against the West.
MARQUISE
No comment
§18 Moreover, $500,000 was transferred on April 25, 1989 to the Degussa bank of Frankfurt and deposited on the account of Mohammed Abu Talb. In his agenda, Talb had circled, the date of the Lockerbie bombing. In his apartment, police found clothes bought in Malta. Talb had met with Dalkamoni in Cyprus during October.
MARQUISE
No comment on money transfer. I have no real recollection. Well--perhaps Abu Talb did it -- as you say at the end of the article. [BUT] the shopkeeper never identified him. In fact when shown a photo spread which included Talb, he failed to do so. Talb did have the date circled but a relative had a baby that day.
OMNI REPLY
In his statement, numbered S4677O, given on March 5, 1990, Gauci says that six or eight weeks previously he is shown a copy of an English newspaper by his brother Paul. He says: "He [Paul] came to me and showed me a page of the paper where a picture of a man was printed."
The detective taking the statement then asked if it was Abu Talb and the statement reads: "The witness very positively agreed that it was." [31] (Twisting tale of conflicting statements)
MARQUISE
Gauci picked Megrahi out of a lineup and at trial. I would have liked a stronger ID but....
OMNI
GAUCI AND HIS BROTHER GOT PAID! "I am in possession of a page from the Rewards for Justice, Washington DC, website on which is written: "Seeking information against international terrorism. Success stories: RFJ has paid out more than $72m to over 50 people who have provided information that prevented international terrorist attacks or have brought to justice those involved in prior acts," recently wrote Dr Swire.
"Included on the page, in the list of those brought to justice, is the name Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing." [32] (Paying for evidence is contrary to justice. The HERALD, February 18 2008.)
In early October of last year, OMNI reported that huge amounts of money were offered by US officials to at least three key witnesses (see "Lockerbie Investigator Disputes Story"). The defense was never told that the CIA had offered millions of dollars to their star witnesses. Both the FBI and CIA denied ever having offered money to any of the witnesses.
"I cannot speak for the CIA but I believe they had no access to witnesses. But [speaking for the FBI] I can say that no one was ever offered any money for testimony. The FBI does not operate that way," Marquise told me.
MARQUISE
I need to be stronger on this. NO WITNESS was ever offered any money to implicate anyone.
"This issue came up at trial and I spoke with the defense lawyers about it in Edinburgh in 1999 -- before trial. No one was promised or even told that they could get money for saying anything. Every FBI agent was under specific orders not to mention money to any potential witness."
In response to a query of Jeff Stein, a reporter for the Congress Quarterly, a CIA spokesperson ridiculed a witness's accusations that it offered or paid him anything. "It may disappoint the conspiracy buffs, but the CIA doesn't belong in your story," a CIA spokesperson said, insisting on anonymity.
The witness is none other than Edwin Bollier whose company is accused of having sold the timer that detonated the bomb on Pan Am 103. Bolier has confirmed to me the story.
MARQUISE
I am the man who met Bollier and guarantee -- no offer of money.
OMNI
In a formal statement, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko emphatically rejected any suggestions of a payoff. "Any accusations that any witness was paid to lie are complete fabrications and these ridiculous statements should be immediately discounted as the untruths they are," Kolko said. "That is not the way the FBI operates."
However, a source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Stein that a key witness, Tony Gauci, and his brother were paid somewhere between $3 to $4 million for providing information leading to the conviction of Megrahi.
The US State Department acknowledged to Stein that rewards were paid. "A reward was paid out in the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 case," a spokesperson there said on condition of anonymity, "but due to operational and security concerns we are not disclosing details regarding specific amounts, sources or types of assistance the sources provided."
Among their success stories, the website of the "Rewards For Justice Program" does indeed list Megrahi. [33]
It did not escape the attention of this writer that the site mentions that Megrahi was born on April 1st 1952, and thus 36 at the time of the purchase of the clothes in Malta, and that he is 5'8" tall. Gauci said in his testimony that the man who bought the clothes was 6' tall and in his fifties. (See the verdict at paragraph 68.)
"Mr Gauci's initial description to DCI Bell would not in a number of respects fit the first accused [Megrahi]. At the identification parade the first accused's height was measured at 5'8". His age in December 1988 was 36. [...] It has to be accepted that there was a substantial discrepancy."
MARQUISE
This discrepancy was noted by all of us and we needed to let all the facts be told -- what will be will be -- we did not change the description to match Megrahi. It is what Gauci said and we lived with that.
MARQUISE
No evidence that Talb met Dalkamoni. In fact I would say not true because Dalkamoni had been under surveillance by the Germans most of October and I do not believe there was any evidence developed that he visited Malta during that time frame.
OMNI REPLY
Abu Talb had many contacts to Malta and Cyprus. It is established that Talb left Sweden to go to Cyprus on October 3 1988. Talb stayed in Cyprus until October 18. He then left for Malta where he stayed until then 26. Talb then returned to Sweden.
In Malta, Talb met with another Palestinian, a bakery owner, and his brother; a clothes manufacturer. In Cyprus, Talb met with Amar Dajani, owner of Kings Take Away restaurant in Nicosia. Talb also contacted with Nabil Maksoumi, a telephone engineer and member of the PFLP.
"But guess with whom Abu Talb also spent his business-holidays in Cyprus in 1988? It was a fellow crippled with a plastic leg: Hafez Dalkamoni, the same man who is suspected to have manufactured and hidden bombs in Frankfurt, Germany." [34] (The Swedish Lockerbie connection)
"Abu Talb's movements could be traced to Cyprus around October 3, and to Malta between October 19 and 26. Dalkamoni was also in Cyprus and Malta on the same dates as Abu Talb. Investigators linked the two to the Miska bakery on Malta, and to a group of Palestinians also believed to be members of the PFLP-GC." [35] (The Syrian connection)
"Further research showed that Mr. Abu Talb had also been in Cyprus, a known staging point for terrorist operations, in early October 1988 - at the same time, it turns out, as Hafez Dalkimoni." [36] (Portrait of Pan Am Suspect: Affable Exile, Fiery Avenger)
MARQUISE
I have only vague recollections about what was accomplished in Cyprus.
§19 Talb was in Malta on November 23 when clothes surrounding the bomb are believed to have been bought. The owner of the shop had initially identified him. He confessed his participation in the Lockerbie bombing and then retracted his confession without any explanation. His wife was heard telling in a phone conversation to Palestinian friends "to get rid of the clothes."
MARQUISE
Talb was NOT in Malta on 11/23.
OMNI REPLY
To my knowledge, William Blum first alleged that Talb was in Malta on November 23 1988. [37] (The Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, Case Not Closed)
MARQUISE
What evidence? If he alleged so what?
I understand that the investigation did not find evidence that he was in Malta on 11-23. But I am not aware that Talb has an alibi for this day. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
MARQUISE
Here I will be a cynic -- this is ridiculous -- just because he had no alibi does not mean he was in Malta.
OMNI
At the trial, Talb could not provide an alibi for the period extending from November 10 to December 5. See Paragraph 79 of the verdict.
"He [Talb] gave evidence that on 10 November 1988 he visited the Ministry of Labour in Stockholm in connection with his application for Swedish nationality, and on 5 December he consulted a solicitor in connection with the theft of his car."
In other words, Talb could not established his presence in Sweden for the period extending from two weeks prior to two weeks after the day when the clothes, said to have surrounded the bomb, are the most likely to have been bought in Malta.
Last June, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission stated that the conviction of Megrahi may have been unsafe. The SCCRC is said to have uncovered new evidence which strengthens the line of inquiry against Abu Talb.
The 800 pages report, not made available to the public, refers to the recovery of new official records from various organizations in Italy, which are thought to refer to Abu Talb, who traveled between Cyprus, Rome, Malta and Frankfurt in the run-up to the bombing.
Information leaked to the media indicates that the Italian records show that Talb did indeed returned to Malta in November. It has long been known that he was in possession of a ticket to do so. The open reservation was expiring on November 26.
"The SCCRC has said that the court was not justified in accepting that the clothes were bought (in Tony Gauci's shop) on December 7. They chose the least likely day when, in fact, the most likely day the clothes were sold - in line with the Christmas lights and weather - was in November (23), when Abu Talb was in Malta." [38] (Lockerbie suspect can still be brought to trial)
MARQUISE
Shopkeeper never identified him. He was shown photo spread containing photo of Talb on at least one occasion and he DID NOT identify him. The report you are talking about related to, I believe, his brother showing him a news photo of Talb from a paper and Gauci saying the man looked something like him.
§20 Incidentally, Abu Talb likes his friends to call him by his nom de guerre, namely Abu Intekam, Father of Revenge, the very codename given by Mostashemi to the Lockerbie bombing operation.
MARQUISE
I do not know about this.
OMNI REPLY
"Uppsala is the home of Mohammed Abu Talb, a sometime janitor, importer and reseller of Arabic food and videotapes, and former husband to a woman named Jamila who is pregnant with their third child.
"That, at least, is how knew Mr. Abu Talb until May. The portrait drawn since then by the Swedish police, who arrested him and three local men that month, grows more chilling daily.
"It now includes bombings of American and Israeli targets in northern Europe, command of a security force for a terrorist leader, a network of relatives tied to the European bombings and to terrorist acts in London and Israel, and a nom de guerre - INTIQAM. It means ''revenge.'' [39] (NYT Portrait of Pan Am Suspect)
Final Thoughts
On June 30 2007, the Herald revealed that Mohamed Abu Talb, the original suspect in the Lockerbie bombing does not have immunity from prosecution and could be charged with mass murder.
"Abu Talb does not have Crown immunity," a spokeswoman for the Crown Office declared. [40]
"Abu Talb and the Iranians could form part of a new case. If there is genuinely new evidence, it seems to me that would satisfy the case for a new trial. In legal theory, there is no reason why they could not bring charges against someone else," Pr Black said at the time.
In 2002, one year after the conviction of Megrahi, an internal document reveals that the CIA was still blaming Talb for the bombing of Pan Am 103.
MARQUISE
Where is it??
TALB GOT A DEAL. "We have also learned that Talb has agreed to testify at the Camp Zeist trial in return for a reduction in his sentence. A senior source in the Swedish police, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that an arrangement has been reached between the UK and Swedish authorities which will allow Talb to apply successfully for a "time limit" to be put on his sentence in return for his cooperation with Scottish prosecutors," wrote Ian Fergusson. [41] (The Lockerbie Bombing Trial: New Problems in the Prosecution's Case)
MARQUISE
I am unable to comment on whatever deals the Crown negotiated. Not a police matter.
OMNI
Horovitz, who write for the Jerusalem Post, has recently asked several former officers of the MOSSAD what they remember about the Lockerbie bombing investigation.
The former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy told Horovitz that, to the best of his knowledge, the Libyans were the perpetrators. "I don't know if it was in conjunction with others," Halevy added.
Nahum Admoni, who headed the Mossad at the time of the bombing, said he was not prepared to comment on the case.
Shabtai Shavit, who succeeded to Admoni and took over the Mossad at the height of the Lockerbie investigation in the UK, said the matter was "ancient history". Shavit only remembered vaguely "all sorts of speculation about Syria, Jibril, the Libyans... "I was dealing with unrelated matters." [42] Jerusalem Post, October 11 2007
The readers need no access to MOSSAD insiders to find out who Israel Intelligence blamed for the Lockerbie bombing.
On the official website of Israel Foreign Ministry Affairs, one can read the following: "As for the carrying out of the terrorist attack in the Azrieli Towers, it is of note that in the past the PFLP-GC carried out spectacular murderous attacks.
For example: the penetration into Kiryat Shemona (April 1974, 18 Israeli killed), the "hang-gliders' night," when a hang-glider infiltrated into an army camp near Kiryat Shemona (November 1987, 6 IDF soldiers killed) and the PFLP-GC involvement in the Lockerbie attack, the Pan-Am explosion above Lockerbie in 1988, which resulted in the death of 270 passengers. [43] (Iran and Syria as Strategic Support for Palestinian Terrorism, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affair)
MARQUISE
Lockerbie is indeed a mixed bag. What things initially looked like were determined not to be. We truly believed the PFLP-GC did it based on the intelligence as well as our own guesstimates. However, the evidence proved otherwise. How does Megrahi explain his presence in Malta on 12/20-21 -- after he denied it initially? He was there less than 24 hours. Why did Fhimah have a notation in his calendar about getting Air Malta tags when he no longer worked at the airline? What about Megrahi's connections to Bollier and Bollier's trip to the US Embassy in Vienna in early 1989 trying to pin the attack on Libya when the world was looking at the GC? There is more evidence to implicate Megrahi and Libya than anyone else. There was not one shred of evidence against anyone else. Not one! I believe there is enough to keep the conspiracy theorists going for many years absent a confession. It has been 20 years -- nearly -- why has no other credible (and provable) theory surfaced after all this time?
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Notes and Comments
1. Could it be that some are sentenced at birth?
If so, it meant that I had been lied to.
An unbearable chaos was hiding beyond the apparent order of the world.
(Translation by the author)
2. Richard Marquise has written a book on this affair titled "Scotbom: Evidence and the Lockerbie Investigation".
3. I sent the final draft on Sunday. Marquise was on the road and replied to me on Tuesday.
4. On Dec. 3, The Firm published a list of the 100 most powerful and influential people in the Scottish justice system and legal profession as voted for by their readers. The vote is nothing short of a plebiscite of the Lockerbie activists.
At No. 1 (from nowhere in last year's rankings) is Alex Salmond, the first minister. At No. 5 (from nowhere in last year's rankings) is Robbie the Pict. At No. 7 (from 62 in last year's rankings) is Professor Black. At No. 11 (from nowhere in last year's rankings) is Dr. Jim Swire. At No. 29 (up from 74) is Tony Kelly, Megrahi's solicitor. It certainly appears as if the Scottish legal profession is beginning to pay attention to those who refuse to accept the Zeist verdict.
5. The Jerusalem Post, David Horovitz, October 11 2007
6. Dr. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the Lockerbie tragedy, is co-founder of the UK Flight 103 Family and a regular spokesperson for the organization.
7. New York Times Nov. 15 1991
8. Los Angeles Times, Nov. 15 1991
9. Shadow over Lockerbie
10. The Scotsman June 29 2007
11. THE PFLP- GC
12. Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1990
Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism
13. Terrorism: Middle Eastern Groups and State Sponsors, 2000
Kenneth Katzman , Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division
14. Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1990
Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism
14-a. SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES: CASE STUDIES
14-b The International Dimension of PFLP-GC Activity, by David Tal
The Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies
JCSS Project on Low Intensity Warfare & The Jerusalem Post
15. Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1990
Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism
16. Indirect strategies in the middle-east: the rules of the game (1990)
17. Closer Cooperation between Jibril and Hizbullah
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affair
18. Foreign Report, 20 June 1985
19. New York Times, 2 November 1983
20. New York Times, 5 October 1984
21. Ranstorp, Hizb'allah, (1997), p.146
22. Erratum. In the article I correctly stated that Ali Akbar Mostashemi, the then Iranian Minister of the Interior, had been the Iranian ambassador in Damascus from 1982 to 1985. In the summary, I however incorrectly stated that he had been ambassador to Lebanon.
23. The Origins of Iran's Reformist Elite, by Mahan Abedin.
Middle East Intelligence Bulletin Volume 5, N4.
Mahan Abedin is an analyst of Iranian politics, educated at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
24. BBC: Palestinian radicals deny bomb link
25. Sponsoring Terrorism: Syria and the PFLP-GC
by Gary C. Gambill
26. The Khreesat Connection, Private Eye, January 2001
27. Mohamed Abu Talb - the Swedish Lockerbie connection.
28. Verdict
29. The Jerusalem Post, David Horovitz, October 11 2007
30. Glasgow Sunday Herald April 17 2000
31. Twisting tale of conflicting statements
MARCELLO MEGA 2007 06 24
32. Paying for evidence is contrary to justice. The HERALD, February 18 2008.
33. See REWARDS FOR JUSTICE
34. Mohamed Abu Talb - the Swedish Lockerbie connection.
35. Lockerbie: The Syrian Connection
36. Portrait of Pan Am Suspect: Affable Exile, Fiery Avenger
37. The Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, Case Not Closed
By William Blum 2001
38. Lockerbie suspect can still be brought to trial
39. Portrait of Pan Am Suspect: Affable Exile, Fiery Avenger
40. Lockerbie suspect can still be brought to trial
41. The Lockerbie Bombing Trial: New Problems in the Prosecution's Case
by Ian Ferguson
42 The Jerusalem Post
43. Iran and Syria as Strategic Support for Palestinian Terrorism
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affair
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