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BBC casts doubt of Pan AM convictions
February 5, 2001
NEWSFLASH: BBC CASTS CONSIDERABLE SKEPTICISM ABOUT
PAN AM 103/LOCKERBIE CONVICTIONS
In advance of whatever the Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is going to produce
as "evidence" of innocence today, the BBC has published the following story
quoting the very Scottish law professor who arranged the trial in The Netherlands
casting great doubt about the veracity of the verdict reached: "Robert Black,
the Scottish law professor who devised the format of the Netherlands-based
trial, was quoted on Sunday as saying he was 'absolutely astounded' that Al
Megrahi had been found guilty. Mr Black said he believed the prosecution had
"a very, very weak circumstantial case" and he was reluctant to believe that
Scottish judges would "convict anyone, even a Libyan" on such evidence." Over
the weekend MER published commentary by American journalist William Blum casting
similar skepticism and providing considerable background.
GADDAFI TO GIVE LOCKERBIE "EVIDENCE"
[BBC News - 5 February] : Libya came to standstill
in anticipation of Gaddafi's statement
Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is due
to reveal fresh evidence on Monday, which he
says will clear the Libyan agent convicted last
week of the Lockerbie bombing.
Colonel Gaddafi says the evidence will prove
that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi is
innocent of the 1988 bombing in which 270
people died.
Libya's defence of Al
Megrahi - a former
Libyan intelligence
agent who received a
life sentence for the
bombing of the Pan-Am
aircraft over Lockerbie
- received a boost
after a Scottish legal
expert said the verdict
was obtained on "very,
very weak" evidence.
A Libyan official said
the opinion showed
that the case was a "racist pretext" to prolong
nine years of sanctions against the country.
The three Scottish judges who heard the case
found Al Megrahi's alleged accomplice, Al Amin
Khalifa Fhimah, not guilty.
Colonel Gaddafi said last week that the judges
had three options - to acquit Al Megrahi,
resign or commit suicide.
Libyans flocked to public meetings on Monday
in anticipation of Colonel Gaddafi's statement,
leaving the country at an almost complete
standstill.
The announcement coincides with Libya
holding three days of meetings known as
basic people's congresses.
Correspondents say two possible scenarios
are being discussed in Tripoli:
Colonel Gaddafi could produce
evidence that Washington put
pressure on the Scottish judges to
convict Al Megrahi
Or he could produce evidence that
another non-Libyan perpetrator carried
out the bombing.
However, there is scepticism outside the
country that hard evidence will emerge at this
late stage.
'Astounded'
Robert Black, the Scottish law professor who
devised the format of the Netherlands-based
trial, was quoted on Sunday as saying he was
"absolutely astounded" that Al Megrahi had
been found guilty.
Mr Black said he
believed the
prosecution had "a
very, very weak
circumstantial case"
and he was reluctant
to believe that
Scottish judges would
"convict anyone, even
a Libyan" on such
evidence.
The view, published in
British newspapers,
echoes that of some of
the families of UK victims of the Lockerbie
bombing, who are calling for a public inquiry to
find "the truth of who was responsible and
what the motive was".
Protests
Wednesday's verdict sparked angry protests in
Libya on Saturday, as Washington and London
demanded the Libyan Government accept
responsibility for the atrocity and pay
compensation to the victims' families.
The protesters
condemned what they
called a "CIA-dictated"
verdict and demanded
compensation for the
victims of the 1986 US
air raids on Tripoli and
Benghazi.
Al Megrahi's 15-year
old son, Khaled, took
part in a demonstration
on Saturday, holding a
placard reading: "My
father is innocent."
The opposing camps - Washington and London
on the one hand and Libya and its supporters
on the other - have become increasing
polarised since the Lockerbie verdict was
issued.
London and Washington are demanding that
Libya accept responsibility for the Lockerbie
bombing and pay compensation to the families
of the victims before sanctions can be lifted.
On Behalf of the relatives of the Lockerbie
victims, Washington wants Libya to pay $740m
(£500m) in compensation, or about $3m (£2m)
for each victim.
Libyan newspapers
A BBC correspondent in Tripoli, Frank Gardner,
says Libya is on tenterhooks, waiting to learn
what the new evidence Colonel Gaddafi has
promised to reveal could be.
The Libya press has continued to attack last
week's verdict. The Libyan daily, Al Fatah,
accuses the judges of yielding to political
pressure from the United States. It says the
judges were stricken with political Alzheimer's
Disease.
In another paper, the Green March, the
editorial referred to what it called Britain's
history of imperialism, aggression and human
suffering.
The paper accused British newspapers of
carrying out an organised campaign to harm
Libya.
It blamed what it called disturbed writers
without loyalty to Britain, who were influenced,
it says, by Zionist circles.
But in a note of conciliation, the Libyan
editorial added that Anglo-Libyan relations
were recovering. It said it felt sincerely that
the British government was keen to reinforce
those relations.
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February 2001
PERES UNMASKS AND JOINS SHARON (February 27, 2001) Was it the Likud Party, or the Labor Party, that authorized more illegal
settlements in the occupied territories since the Gulf War and the Madrid Peace
Conference?
PERES AND COLLEAGUES "SLITHER ON THEIR BELLIES" (February 26, 2001) For those who still needed proof of the cravenness and duplicity of Israel's
Labor Party, the party that spawned "Peace Now" and "Oslo" among other gross
deceptions, it came today.
Defectors say Iraq tested Nuclear Bomb (February 25, 2001) When Iraq was more overtly building nuclear weapons, the Israelis struck
in 1981 destroying the Osirak reactor near Baghdad that could have provided
the crucial processed uranium fuel.
"Go back, we don't want you" (February 24, 2001) General Colin Powell, now combining even more closely than usual the Pentagon
with the State Department, was afraid to go to Gaza; and rightly so.
The Hebron MASSACRE - 7 long years ago (February 24, 2001) Abraham's dysfunctional family has had unbelieveable historical ramifications
for which the focal point today is Hebron, site of Abraham's burial place,
a religious site to both Jews and Muslim alike who are today quite literally
at each other's throats.
Council on foreign relations help legitimize Sharon (February 23, 2001) The Council on Foreign Relations, New York-power elite-based but in recent
years integrating more with the Washington government and corporate elite,
has been for quite some time, to put it bluntly, a rather tricky and chicanery
Israeli-oriented Zionist center when it comes to matters relevant to Israel.
Iraq - The great Cover-Up (February 23, 2001) As terrible as what the Israelis, with their superpower American ally (and
European connivance), are doing to the Palestinians, what has been and is being
done to the Iraqis and the Chechnyans is also truly appauling.
Arab expulsion admitted by Sharon Ally (February 22, 2001) One day maybe Israel -- like South Africa and Chile before it -- will have
some kind of "truth finding" commission to try to purge itself of the past.
Protests in Jordan (February 22, 2001) If it weren't for the Hashemite Regime in today's Jordan, yesterday's Transjordan,
and before that the East Bank of Palestine, the Israelis would never have been
able to vanquish the Palestinian people in days past and would never be able
to do to the remaining Palestinians what is happening today.
Powell and Sharon - Street protests? (February 21, 2001) Clearly, the US is rushing to court
unpopularity across the world, contrary
to expectations that the Bush national
security establishment would conduct
itself with a degree of sophistication.
"This is only the beginning" (February 21, 2001) The crippling is not just physical. Psychologically, culturally, economically,
and even morally, the Palestinian people are being twisted and tortured beyond
all recognition of their former selves.
Gaza Ghetto, Gaza Concentration Camp, Gaza Prison (February 19, 2001) For four months, the Gaza Strip has been effectively isolated from the world.
Over 1 million Palestinians are caged in an area of not more than 365km2.
Locked in an Orwellian eternal war (February 19, 2001) President Bush Jr didn't seem so confident the other day as he told the
world of the newly increased bombing of Iraq. But he made it clear that "until
the world is told otherwise" the Americans are convinced they run the world
and it is up to them to decide whom to bomb, whom to favor, whom to take out,
whom to reward.
Arafat collapsing (February 16, 2001) The Arafat Regime is collapsing. Here are some of the details, twisted
somewhat of course because the reports are from Israel's best newspaper, Ha'aretz,
in view of the fact that Palestinian and Arab news sources are unable and unwilling
to provide such insights.
The realization, "perhaps the dream" (February 16, 2001) Out of the cycle of violence the
gradual, hesitant understanding -
perhaps the dream - will grow, that
the only way is through a struggle
to create a land of Israel/Palestine
that is undivided in both physical
and human terms, pluralistic and open;
a land in which civilized relations,
human touch, intimate coexistence and
a link to a common homeland would be
stronger than militant tribalism and
the separation into national ghettoes.
"Collective suicide" or Zionism united? (February 15, 2001) If there is a national unity government,
it will be evident that the differences
between Labour as the main branch of the
left and the Likud as the main branch of
the right are not that big.
Death and assissination (February 14, 2001) It didn't take long for the Israelis, now Sharon-led, to start creating
the escalating provocations that will then bring about still more Palestinian
rage which will then give the Israelis the excuse they seek to pulverize the
Palestinians still harder, possibly destroying the regime they earlier created,
and possibly leading to another Palestinian "nakbah" (disaster).
Israelis strike, Palestinians without strategy (February 13, 2001) The Israelis have had a long-term strategy for a very long time; and they
have pursued it regardless of what party was in power and who happened to be
Prime Minister of the moment.
Dozens of Palestinians wounded (February 12, 2001) Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians
in the
West Bank Monday as Israel's rightwing Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon sought
to
forge a unity government.
"Holy war" is forever (February 12, 2001) Fifty four years ago when an international commission of that day was hearing
from Jews and Arabs about what the new U.N. should do about Palestine there
was testimony from very credible and very establishment Jewish Zionist sources
opposing creation of a "separatist Jewish State" precisely because it would
bring about an unending conflict with the Palestinian Arab population.
War preparations continue (February 11, 2001) The Arafat Regime, the "Authority", is near collapse -- not just financially,
but credibility wise as well.
The Israeli government is near "unity" -- with General Sharon in charge.
The PA is about to collapse (February 10, 2001) How ironic history can be. After generations of struggle and such suffering
the regime that rules the Palestinians is now in the hands of Ariel Sharon
representing Israel, the U.S. Congress representing the financial levers of
the American Empire, and the European governments which in this situation operate
on the pretense that they are better than either of the above.
Rocking Israel to its Biblical core (February 9, 2001) Well if King David was a nebbish (modern translation might be "nerd"), one
has to wonder how history will record Ariel Sharon, the man with such a past
whom the Jews of Israel have just overwhelming elected their leader.
Sharon maneuvers for starting position (February 9, 2001) It's time for serious political confusion and disinformation now. As the
armies prepare themselves for the clashes likely to come in one form or another,
the politicians maneuver for new starting positions.
Clinton pardoned Mossad spy for Israelis (February 9, 2001) The Israelis adore Bill Clinton, as all the pollsters know. Deep down
even the common everyday Israelis know he was their man in the White House.
The many crimes of Ariel Sharon (February 8, 2001) Some incorrigible optimists have suggested that only a
right-wing extremist of the notoriety of Likud leader
Ariel Sharon will have the credentials to broker any
sort of lasting settlement with the Palestinians.
Sharon wastes no time - Arafat bows (February 7, 2001) We will give him the benefit of the doubt.
If he comes with good ideas that will bring
us closer to the peace process, why not?
The world has seen many such situations before.
Holy war for Jerusalem (February 7, 2001) We're on the way now to a new and expanded struggle, maybe even a religious
war, Jerusalem the focalpoint.
The cold logic of Sharon (February 7, 2001) Many Israelis just stayed home. Others cast a blank vote. But a considerable
minority thrust Ariel Sharon into the greatest electoral landslide in that
country's history -- obviously as well an overwhelming majority of those who
did vote.
Sharon wins and Peres wants in (February 6, 2001) He may be a brutish thug, he may fit the definition of war criminal, he
may be a Jewish racist -- but now he is also the Prime Minister-elect of Israel,
overwhelmingly swept into power in a way few imagined possible just a year
ago.
All sides now committed to escalation (February 6, 2001) Now the real craziness begins. The Palestinians are committed to heating things
up to demonstrate their resolve and their capabilities. The Israelis are committed
to "stopping the violence" which means clamping the boot down on the Palestinians
even more harshly.
The legacy of Ariel Sharon (February 5, 2001) This is a place of filth and blood which will forever
be associated with Ariel Sharon. In Israel today, he
may well be elected prime minister.
BBC casts doubt of Pan AM convictions (February 5, 2001) In advance of whatever the Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is going to produce
as "evidence" of innocence today, the BBC has published the following story
quoting the very Scottish law professor who arranged the trial in The Netherlands
casting great doubt about the veracity of the verdict reached:
What's left of Israel's left (February 5, 2001) What's left of Israel's left is in a fractured and demoralized state of
affairs. Not only is Ariel Sharon about to become Israel's Prime Minister,
but in all likelihood he is to be swept into power tomorrow in a landslide
unprecedented in Israel's history.
The Pan Am 103 Verdict (February 3, 2001) The papers are filled with pictures of happy relatives of the victims of
the 1988 bombing of PanAm 103. A Libyan, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi,
was just found guilty of the bombing by a Scottish court in the Hague, his
co-defendant, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, being acquitted... What's wrong is that the evidence against Megrahi is thin to the point of transparency.
Rivers of blood (February 2, 2001) The bloodiness and racism of Sharon's past is fact. And these two articles
help bring that past forward to the present.
Waiting for Sharon (February 2, 2001) They believe a Sharon victory will be a boon for their cause.
'He will expose the true face of Israel,' says an activist
in Yasir Arafat's Fatah movement in Nablus, 'and force the
world, including the US, to address its real responsibilities
to the peace process...
Israeli Arabs boycott Barak, await Sharon (February 1, 2001) As the extreme right-wing revolution in Israel nears, as Ariel Sharon and
friends prepare to take over political power, the "Israeli Arab vote" will
not be enough to save Ehud Barak, and in fact it will not even be mobilized
on his behalf this time, though Yasser Arafat and his friends have surely tried.
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