Bush plot to bomb his ally
FPF: The following sentence caught the eye: "It is believed to
be the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers
in this way."
As if we don't know about the 'D-Notice' curbing the - already
limited - freedom of the UK media - Url.:
http://www.serendipity.li/cda/dnot.html
Google search press publications concerning "Bush plot to bomb
his ally" - Url.:
http://tinyurl.com/89749
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Legal gag on Bush-Blair war row
Richard Norton-Taylor - The Guardian
Wednesday November 23, 2005 - The attorney general last night
threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they
revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to a
dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of
military operations in Iraq.
It is believed to be the first time the Blair government has
threatened newspapers in this way. Though it has obtained court
injunctions against newspapers, the government has never
prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked
documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to
the invasion of Iraq.
The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, last night referred
editors to newspaper reports yesterday that described the
contents of a memo purporting to be at the centre of charges
against two men under the secrets act.
Under the front-page headline "Bush plot to bomb his ally", the
Daily Mirror reported that the US president last year planned to
attack the Arabic television station al-Jazeera, which has its
headquarters in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where US and British
bombers were based.
Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, said last night:
"We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were
given 'no comment' officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours
later we are threatened under section 5 [of the secrets act]".
Under section 5 it is an offence to have come into the
possession of government information, or a document from a crown
servant, if that person discloses it without lawful authority.
The prosecution has to prove the disclosure was damaging.
The Mirror said the memo turned up in May last year at the
constituency office of the former Labour MP for Northampton
South, Tony Clarke. Last week, Leo O'Connor, a former researcher
for Mr Clarke, was charged with receiving a document under
section 5 of the act. David Keogh, a former Foreign Office
official seconded to the Cabinet Office, was charged last week
with making a "damaging disclosure of a document relating to
international relations". Mr Keogh, 49, is accused of sending
the document to Mr O'Connor, 42, between April 16 and May 28
2004.
Mr Clarke said yesterday that Mr O'Connor "did the right thing"
by drawing the document to his attention. Mr Clarke, an anti-war
MP who lost his seat at the last election, returned the document
to the government. "As well as an MP, I am a special constable,"
he said.
Both men were released on police bail last Thursday to appear at
Bow Street magistrates court on November 29. When they were
charged, newspapers reported that the memo contained a
transcript of a discussion between Mr Blair and Mr Bush.
The conversation was understood to have taken place during a
meeting in the US. It is believed to reveal that Mr Blair
disagreed with Mr Bush about aspects of the Iraq war. There was
widespread comment at the time that the British government was
angry about US military tactics there, particularly in the city
of Falluja.
Charges under the secrets act have to have the consent of the
attorney-general. His intervention yesterday suggests that the
prosecution plans to ask the judge to hold part, if not all of
the trial, in camera, with the public and press excluded.
[andend] - Url.:
http://tinyurl.com/agvtf
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* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of
the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.:
http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v
* The leaked 'Downing Street Memos' expose the criminal lies by
war criminals like Bush, Blair, Berlusconi (It.) JP Balkenende
(NL) - their collaborating media and other malignant ilk - Url.:
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/
* MSNBC - Poll: Ninety-four (94) percent believes that George
Bush and the neocon media misled the nation to go to war with
Iraq - Url.:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8248969/
* Help all the troops of whatever nationality to come back from
abroad! We need them badly at home in many countries - AND WITH
ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE PAID FOR BY TAXES - to fight with us
against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers
- Url.:
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
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