“Intel relations with Libya today are complex but too important to ignore...”
LOCKERB SUSPICIOUS M Eye Spy examines the real genesis behind the murky world of Libyan trading contracts, BP lobbying, spy games and the intelligence world...
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here remains concern in certain corners of Washington about the release of Abdelbaset alMegrahi, the Libyan JSO (Jamahiriya Security Organisation) intelligence officer who helped place a bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. Some people believe he is but a pawn in a shadowy scheme to secure lucrative trade deals with Tripoli. However, negotiations to bring Libya “out of the cold”, create new business platforms and a joint undercover intelligence effort to tackle al-Qaida, go back over a decade. But is the release of Al-Megrahi really linked to an oil deal with Libya?
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When the Scottish Government sanctioned the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on “compassionate grounds” last August, most people and ministers agreed it was a serious mistake. Al-Megrahi was supposedly on “death’s door” and had but a few weeks to live. Intelligence officials were powerless to act, so too Downing Street, though ousted premier Gordon Brown’s silence was deafening. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi - early 1990s The current occupier of ‘No 10’, David Cameron, reacted with fury when it was first touted that Al-Megrahi could be freed. But it was a decision made entirely by the Scottish Executive and London was effectively powerless to intervene.
With a “doctor’s note” in hand, the Libyan agent, the only man jailed for his part in the outrage, was sent back home to a heroes welcome. One of the killers of 270 civilians on a night of terror over Scotland was a free man again. EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE
COURTESY: THE WHITE HOUSE
MCS 2nd CLASS JESSE B AWALT
Muammer Abu Minyar Gaddafi
BIE: MINDS “A doctor paid for by Libya to diagnose Al-Megrahi said he had but three months to live... because that’s what Libya wanted to hear. Some doctors now say he could live another 20 years...”
CONFUSING INFORMATION As fully expected by those who watched and followed events unfold, a new report has emerged that Al-Megrahi could well live for another ten years or even longer. Intelligence watchers on both sides of the Atlantic sense there is much more to this business than meets the eye: there is the distinct smell of conspiracy in the air.
COURTESY: THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
Prime Minister David Cameron and President Obama at the White House. Mr Cameron said the decision to free Al-Megrahi was “completely wrong” but dismissed suggestions that BP’s lobbying was connected: “It was a decision taken by the Scottish Government.” Shortly after the lobbying, BP was allowed a permit to explore Libya’s oil-rich coastline US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said: “The Foreign Secretary indicated that it might be appropriate for the British government to communicate with Congress as well to make sure that they fully understand what transpired a year ago. There were very legitimate questions raised about the medical information that led to the decision. “People have raised questions about interactions between the UK government and BP over
Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill
And now, after four US senators were given an overview of the affair, complete with intelligence that could only have come from the CIA (some of it undoubtedly from UK shores), quite rightly the representatives of those who perished want some straight answers. This has only come about since it emerged BP lobbied ministers to hasten negotiations with Libya over a ‘prisoner transfer agreement’ (PTA). “Deals could be lost to competitors” was the bottom line. The senators want to know if Al-Megrahi’s release was central to BP picking up an oil drilling contract with Libya which stared in August - off the shores of the North African country. Politeness personified, Hillary Clinton raised concerns with William Hague, Britain’s Foreign Secretary.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has met Colonel Gaddafi on more than one occasion, the last being allegedly in June. The Daily Mail described the talks as “secretive”. An advisor to the dictator told the newspaper that Mr Blair had “provided a great deal of invaluable advise” EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE
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