SAAG : Bush, Blair: Their Man In Islamabad

BUSH, BLAIR: THEIR MAN IN ISLAMABAD

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR -- PAPER NO. 109

By B. Raman | August 20, 2006

A hilarious novel by Graham Greene titled "Our Man in Havana" became a best-seller in the 1970s. It was about a mediocre officer of the MI-6, Britain's external intelligence agency, posted to Havana as a punishment for failing to produce any worthwhile intelligence in his career. One day he sends to his headquarters a sensational report, which he claims to have obtained from a mole, about the arrival in Cuba of a highly lethal Soviet missile for use against the US.

2. The MI-6 and the CIA examine the report. There is excitement in both the agencies over this intelligence coup. They inform their respective political leaders. The MI-6's man in Havana is flooded with encomiums.The more the MI-6 asks him for further details of the missile, the more he gets from his mole.

3. One day, the excitement in the MI-6 breaks the ceiling when they receive from their man what he claimed was a copy of the diagram of the missile.The UK Defence Department, the Pentagon and the political leaders of the two countries are informed. The British and American analysts are mystified.The missile, going by the diagram, looks like no other missile the USSR was known to have produced before.Studies are ordered as to how to counter it.

4. One British analyst has a vague feeling that he had seen a similar diagram somewhere before, but he cannot recall when and where.One day the vacuum cleaner in his house goes out of order.He opens it. Hey presto, he finds inside a diagram of the vacuum cleaner. He realises that what their man in Havana had sent as the diagram of a new Soviet missile, was actually the diagram of a vacuum cleaner.

5. There is utter consternation in the MI-6 headquarters. They call their man to London and question him. He admits that he never had a mole in the Cuban security set-up and that he had fabricated all his reports. He got the idea about the new missile while repairing his vacuum cleaner one day.

6. The chief of the MI-6 and his officers ask him to wait outside while they discuss his cheating.The senior officers advise the chief not to admit to the Prime Minister and the CIA that there was no such missile and that their man had made an ass of them.It would destroy the organisation's credibility and that of the chief.

7. They decide to request their man to apply for premature retirement and recommend to the Government that his request be accepted despite his outstanding work. They also decide to recommend him for knighthood for his outstanding performance in Havana. He remains on the records of the MI-6 one of the greatest intelligence operatives produced by the British intelligence.

8. One is reminded of the MI-6's Man in Havana as one watches with amazement the encomiums being showered on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan as a stalwart ally in the war against terrorism by President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair despite an avalanche of evidence regarding his duplicity. What is the evidence available against Musharraf so far:

* His reluctance to hand over Omar Sheikh to the Americans for questioning regarding the kidnapping and beheading of Daniel Pearl, the US journalist.

* His continued refusal to hand over A.Q.Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, to the US for interrogation on his links with Iran,Libya,North Korea, Syria, Iraq and Al Qaeda.

* His non-co-operation in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, his No.2 Ayman al-Zawahiri and other remnants of Al Qaeda, who are now operating from Waziristan in Pakistani territory.

* His reluctance to act against Mulla Mohammed Omar, the Amir, and other leaders and cadres of the Taliban, who are killing Americans, British, Canadians, Afghans and others from their sanctuaries in Pakistani territory.

* His refusal to act against the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and its mother organisation the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) despite the LET's global ramifications and its links with Al Qaeda.

* His indignant denials of Indian and Afghan allegations regarding the jihadi terrorist infrastructure in Pakistani territory, which continues to encourage terrorism in India and Afghanistan.

* His making a deal with the Taliban and Al Qaeda remnants in Waziristan under which they have agreed to observe a cease-fire inside Waziristan in return for Musharraf's closing his eyes to their raids into Afghan territory

9. And, so on and so on and so on. In spite of all this, Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair keep showering praise on Their Man in Islamabad. Their praise shows no sign of stopping despite new evidence of the General's duplicity regarding the alleged plot to blow up 10 US-bound aircraft, the discovery of which was announced dramatically by the British police on August 10, 2006.

10. Musharraf and his officials proclaimed that it was Pakistan, which discovered the plot and alerted the British about it on August 9. They projected Rashid Rauf, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, as the chief co-ordinator of the plot on behalf of the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. What strip-tease they have been playing about Rashid Rauf!

* They said he was arrested while crossing into Pakistan from Afghanistan a week before the British announcement.

* Sections of the Pakistani media reported that he was actually arrested in Bahawalpur in southern Punjab on August 8. He had acquired an expensive house there and married the sister-in-law (wife's sister) of Maulana Masood Azhar, the Amir of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM), which was designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in December,2001.

* After the publication of the report of his arrest in Bahawalpur, the Pakistani officials changed their version. They said they had actually arrested an associate of Rashid Rauf while crossing over into Pakistan from Afghanistan and he led them to Rashid in Bahawalpur. They have not given the name of this associate.

* They said that the entire plot was conceived by the No.3 of Al Qaeda who, according to them, is based in Afghanistan, but they could not give his name except to say he was close to No.2 Zawahiri.

* Then, they said it was actually a son-in-law of Zawahiri, who conceived the plot and tried to use Rashid to have it executed. They gave the name of the so-called son-in-law. When it was pointed out to them that this son-in-law was reported by them earlier this year to have been killed in an American air raid in the Bajaur tribal agency, they have gone silent. Musharraf has advised his agencies not to give any more briefings to the media.

11. Musharraf has suddenly become a stickler for the law. In the past, the Pakistani authorities had informally handed over to the Americans without following the due process of the law Mir Aimal Kansi, Ramzi Yousef, Abu Zubaidah, Ramzi Binalshib, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Abu Faraj al-Libi and many others without informing their courts about their arrests.Abu Faraj was handed over despite the fact that he was the principal accused in the case relating to the plot to kill Musharraf in December,2003.

12. In the case of Rashid Rauf, they are following the entire procedure as laid down in the law. They informed a court of his arrest. They produced him before a magistrate and obtained his remand in police custody for interrogation. They have reportedly requested the British for a formal written application for handing him over so that they can put it up to the Magistrate for orders. A British police team is waiting in Islamabad patiently for an opportunity to question him.

13. Any police would have been anxious to question him as urgently as possible in order to neutralise any other threat before it materialises, but not the British. It is now 10 days since the plot was discovered, but the British are yet to interrogate the so-called principal co-ordinator of it. They are showing remarkable patience.It is like a clip in slow motion from a Charlie Chaplin movie. The whole case relating to Rashid is moving at a pace which would make the proverbial snail look a great sprinter.

14. Rashid Rauf may well go down in history as the terrorist, whom nobody wanted to interrogate. The Pakistanis don't want to interrogate him too much lest their duplicity be exposed.The British and the Americans don't want to be in a hurry to interrogate lest their own gullibility be exposed.Moreover, there is a great danger if it comes out that they again let themselves be taken for a ride by Musharraf.Not only will their credibility be in ruins, but they may even face claims for damages from airline companies and passengers, who incurred losses amounting to billions of dollars as a result of the drama staged by the British police.

15. The only way of avoiding all this is to persist with the drama and to go on showering encomiums and lollipops on Musharraf. It would be dangerous to admit that he was a trickster, who took them for a ride. Better to let him go down in history as the world's greatest warrior against terrorism and as the hero of the discovery of a plot to blow up 10 US-bound planes.

16. They sink or swim with Their Man in Islamabad.

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: itschen36@gmail.com )

The Observer : Blair aide's wife attacks police for 'Gestapo' tactics

Blair aide's wife attacks police for 'Gestapo' tactics

· Anger at cash-for-honours tactics
· MPs to reopen probe

Ned Temko and Nicholas Watt | The Observer | Sunday July 22, 2007

The wife of Downing Street's former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, has lifted the lid on the private fury felt by Tony Blair's inner circle over the cash-for-peerages inquiry, accusing the police of 'Gestapo tactics'.

In a remarkable intervention, which contrasts with the measured language of the former Prime Minister, Sarah Helm singled out a dawn raid on the former Number 10 aide Ruth Turner as a sign of police heavy-handedness.

Helm, a journalist and author, writes in today's Observer: 'I know one shouldn't make these comparisons, but I was writing about Nazi Germany right then and I couldn't help think: Gestapo tactics! Pick on the vulnerable, preferably a single woman, living alone. No matter that you may have nothing on her that will ultimately stand up in court - give her a scare.'

Article continues
It was widely known in Whitehall that the raid on Turner deeply upset Blair and Powell. Helm writes: 'As if she were some street criminal, ready to scarper, Ruth's home was swooped upon by [Assistant Commissioner John] Yates's men and she was forced to dress in the presence of a female police officer. Then there was a tip-off to the press.'

Yates, who led the inquiry, has strongly denied any police leaks and insisted that his officers were merely doing their duty. Despite the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to press charges, he has received public backing for how he ran the investigation from the CPS and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. Sir Ian said on Friday that he had 'always been satisfied' with the way the inquiry was being handled.

Despite their private anger, the former Prime Minister and his inner circle were also careful to avoid expressing public criticism of the 16-month investigation after the CPS announced nobody would be charged.

But Helm's criticism, echoed in angry private comments yesterday by senior Blair allies, will stoke the debate over the conduct of a lengthy inquiry that ended up costing nearly £1m, involved the questioning of dozens of people and four arrests, but produced no charges.

The Commons public administration committee, which suspended its own inquiry into cash-for- honours to allow Yates a free rein, is likely to reopen hearings where he could be questioned.

The committee's Labour chairman, Tony Wright, reacted to the CPS decision by saying the investigation had been a 'disaster for the police and a disaster for the political system'. David Heyes, a member of the committee, said last night: 'I am sure we will resume our hearings some time in the autumn and that Yates will be one key witness.'

Helm, whose husband was questioned for a second time under caution, writes: 'The Ruth episode showed the police were desperate. What on earth would they do next? Was Yates coming here?'

She also criticises media coverage of events. 'At best we saw just sloppy, bad reporting, and at worst, cheap sensation and vindictive lies.'

Despite the anger voiced by Helm, The Observer understands that none of the people interviewed by police will take any legal action over the inquiry. They are intent on concentrating any public criticism on the Scottish National Party, which triggered the investigation with a complaint to the police by the MP Angus McNeil.

Lord Levy, Blair's chief fundraiser, said last night that he wanted to 'draw a line' under the affair and move on - particularly with the wedding of his son, Daniel, due to take place in London next Sunday.

A spokesman for the former Prime Minister told The Observer: 'We don't want to get into criticising the police.' Asked for comment on public criticism of the inquiry by Peter Mandelson, a Blair ally and European Union Trade Commissioner, he said: 'I don't want that to suggest I'm attacking Peter, because I am not. He is entitled to his views. But the decision, as we said in our public statement, was that we want to move on.'

But a former member of Blair's cabinet highlighted the continuing resentment by accusing Scotland Yard of having subjected alleged suspects to months of 'incredible' pressure although it was 'clear' that there was no credible evidence. 'There is anger, of course,' the ex-minister, a close Blair ally, said. 'But the last thing anybody wants is to create a situation of Downing Street against the police, or against John Yates. Let the public bash him.

'Obviously, no one involved in the pressures of the past 16 months wants to do anything, anything at all, that will risk prolonging what they've been through.'

These remarks echoed a series of angry private comments yesterday from Blair's closest political allies. One, accusing the police of heavy-handed tactics and damaging media leaks, described Yates as 'a shit'.

'Everyone who has been at all affected by this investigation will have thought long and hard about what to do now - and be very tempted to take the argument to Yates,' he said. 'But no matter how much anger there is, there is also a desire to put the entire terrible episode behind us.'

The Independent : How Murdoch had a hotline to the PM in the run-up to Iraq war

How Murdoch had a hotline to the PM in the run-up to Iraq war

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor | 19 July 2007

Tony Blair had three conversations with the media magnate Rupert Murdoch in the nine days before the start of the Iraq war, the Government has disclosed.

Details of the former prime minister's contacts with Mr Murdoch have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. After trying to block disclosure for four years, the Government backed down in a surprise change of heart the day after Mr Blair resigned last month.

Requests for information under the Act were submitted by the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury and The Independent journalist James Macintyre. An appeal was pending and evidence was about to be served in a case before an Information Tribunal.

Yesterday the Cabinet Office said there were six telephone discussions between Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch in 20 months, all at crucial moments of his premiership. The subject of their calls was not revealed.

In 2003, Mr Blair phoned the owner of The Times and The Sun on 11 and 13 March, and on 19 March, the day before Britain and the United States invaded Iraq. The war was strongly supported by Murdoch-owned newspapers around the world. The day after two of the calls, The Sun launched vitriolic attacks on the French President Jacques Chirac. The Government quoted him as saying he would "never" support military action against Saddam Hussein, a claim hotly disputed by France.

Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch spoke again on 29 January 2004, the day after publication of the Hutton report into the death of Dr David Kelly. Their next conversation was on 25 April 2004, just after Mr Blair bowed to pressure led by The Sun for him to promise a referendum on the proposed EU constitution. They also spoke on 3 October that year, after Mr Blair said he would not fight a fourth general election.

The Cabinet Office also said Mr Blair had three meetings with Richard Desmond, the proprietor of Express Newspapers, between January 2003 and February 2004. The Government had said releasing the information would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs, and disclosure of the timing of exchanges with "stakeholders" could reveal the content of the discussion.

Lord Avebury said: "This is a welcome victory for the cause of freedom of information. It shouldn't have taken so much time and effort to extract information that was clearly of great public interest. Rupert Murdoch has exerted his influence behind the scenes on policies on which he is known to have strong views, including the regulation of broadcasting and the Iraq war."

In Alastair Campbell's diaries, published last week, the former spin doctor described a Downing Street dinner for Mr Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, in 2002. "Murdoch pointed out that his were the only papers that gave us support when the going got tough. 'I've noticed,' said TB," Mr Campbell wrote. Lance Price, Mr Campbell's deputy, called Mr Murdoch "the 24th member of the [Blair] Cabinet". He added: "His presence was always felt. No big decision could ever be made inside No10 without taking account of the likely reaction of three men, Gordon Brown, John Prescott and Rupert Murdoch. On all the really big decisions, anybody else could safely be ignored."

Last year, Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, ruled that official contacts between Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch should be disclosed, but other contacts were not if no minute or note was taken.

The calls... and the editorial response

How 'The Sun' shone on Tony Blair after his phone chats with proprietor Rupert Murdoch

Phone call: 11 March 2003

The Sun says: 12 March 2003

"Like a cheap tart who puts price before principle, money before honour, Jacques Chirac struts the streets of shame. The French President's vow to veto the second resolution [on Iraq] at the United Nations - whatever it says - puts him right in the gutter."

Phone call: 13 March 2003

The Sun says: 14 March 2003

"Charlatan Jacques Chirac is basking in cheap applause for his 'Save Saddam' campaign - but his treachery will cost his people dear. This grandstanding egomaniac has inflicted irreparable damage on some of the most important yet fragile structures of international order."

Phone call: 19 March 2003

The Sun says: 20 March 2003

"Time has run out for Saddam Hussein. His day of reckoning is at hand. The war on Iraq has begun... The courage and resilience of Tony Blair and George Bush will now be put to the ultimate test."

CNN : Agent infiltrated terror cell, U.S. says

Agent infiltrated terror cell, U.S. says

Air travel in chaos after plot to bomb airliners exposed

August 11, 2006

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Terrorists were in the "final stages" of a plot to simultaneously blow up as many as 10 jets leaving Britain for the U.S., sending the planes and thousands of passengers into the Atlantic Ocean, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday.

British and Pakistani authorities teamed up to thwart the attacks, and 24 men were arrested in overnight raids in Britain, authorities said.

An undercover British agent infiltrated the group, giving the authorities intelligence on the alleged plan, several U.S. government officials said.

The men had not bought plane tickets, the officials said, but they were in the process of perusing the Internet to find flights to various cities that had similar departure times.

Two of the suspects recently traveled to Pakistan and later received money wired from there, senior U.S. government sources said.

Among those arrested were a Muslim charity worker and a Heathrow Airport employee with an all-area access pass, according to Britain's Channel 4.

The suspects were planning to stage a test run within a couple of days, said a U.S. intelligence official.

The suspected terrorists had been under surveillance in Britain since last December, Channel 4 reported.

A senior congressional source said it is believed the plotters planned to mix a British sports drink with a gel-like substance to make a potent explosive that could be ignited with an MP3 player or cell phone.

The sports drink could be combined with a peroxide-based paste to form a potent "explosive cocktail," if properly done, said a U.S. counterterrorism official.

"There are strong reasons to believe the materials in a beverage like that could have been part of the formula," the official said.

As many as 50 people were involved in the plot, an internal Department of Homeland Security document said.

While other arrests were possible, British Home Secretary John Reid said that "police are confident that the main players are accounted for."

Information gathered after recent arrests in Pakistan convinced British investigators they had to act urgently to stop the plot, sources said.

Pakistani authorities also made arrests in coordination with Britain, said a spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. He did not say how many arrests were made.

Two of the suspects left "martyrdom tapes," according to sources familiar with the details of the British investigation.

Chertoff said the plans were "suggestive of an al Qaeda plot," and President Bush said the arrests are a "stark reminder" that the U.S. is "at war with Islamic fascists."

Bush thanked British Prime Minister Tony Blair for "busting this plot."

The Bank of England on Friday froze the funds of 19 suspects who were arrested in connection with the alleged terror plot, a British Treasury spokesman said.

Plot felt worldwide

Authorities immediately banned all passengers headed to or departing from U.S. airports from carrying any liquid in their carry-ons. The massive lines that resulted at security checkpoints made air travel chaotic worldwide as flights were delayed or canceled.

The effects of the plot rippled across the globe Thursday.

# The U.S. raised the terror threat level to "severe," or red, for all flights leaving Britain for the United States. Britain raised its alert level to "critical."

# Continental, Delta, Northwest and United Airlines advised passengers to arrive three hours before takeoff for domestic and international flights, according to the airlines' Web sites. American Airlines advised passengers to allow "extra time."

# Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ordered the National Guard to Boston's Logan Airport, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the National Guard to airports in his state.

# Besides banning liquids, British police are also banning passengers from carrying electronic key fobs, which have the potential to trigger bombs.

# A U.S. administration official said the plot targeted Continental, United, British Airways and American Airlines flights to New York, Washington and California.

# Indications are that at least 21 of those arrested are British citizens and some were of Pakistani ethnicity, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

# In a sign of the heightened security, Chertoff said the U.S. was dispatching extra air marshals to Britain.

'Mass murder on an unimaginable scale'

Chertoff said the plotters were "getting close to the execution phase."

"There were very concrete steps under way to execute all elements of the plan," he said.

The plot was "intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale," London's Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said.

Chertoff said the plan was reminiscent of a plot by September 11 coordinator Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who in 1995 had envisioned detonating bombs on 11 airlines possibly traveling over the Pacific Ocean.

The plot was "as sophisticated as any we have seen in recent years as far as terrorism is concerned," Chertoff said.

The nation's overall threat level has not changed, but the threat level has been raised to "high," or orange, for all commercial flights operating in or coming to the United States, the DHS said.

Thursday was the first time the DHS has raised the threat level for a specific group of flights.
New security restrictions

"Due to the nature of the threat revealed by this investigation, we are prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane," a DHS statement said.

Increased security means airline passengers around the country should show up at least two hours early for all flights, an official with the Transportation Security Administration said.

British and U.S. security agencies quickly moved to impose strict limits on carry-on items in the wake of Thursday's arrests, causing extended delays at airport security checkpoints.

The British Airports Authority said no hand luggage would be allowed onto planes leaving British airports until further notice.

British Airways canceled all short-haul flights in or out of Heathrow Airport for Thursday, and delays were stacking flights up at airports across Europe.