PUBLISHER'S VIEW: Among the many commentators on the recent Aljazeera documentary "Lockerbie: What really happened?" John Ashton stands out as a balanced voice who deserves to be listened to. Ashton was paid consultant and interviewee for the producers’ previous Aljazeera programme Lockerbie: Case Closed, and was also a paid consultant during the development
phase of the current documentary. As wll be seen, he agrees with the thrust of "Lockerbie: What really happened," but takes strong issue with the reliability of some of the claims advanced dueing the documentary - while acknowledging that there is a "plus side" to what he sees as being otherwise "a wasted opportunity."
Harold Levy: Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog;
POST: "Review of Aljazeera documentary 'Lockerbie': What really happened?," by John Ashton, published on his web-site 'Megrahi: You are my jury,' on March 12, 2014;
GIST: "Aljazeera last night premiered its long-awaited documentary Lockerbie: What Really Happened? The
programme’s broad thrust, with which I agree, is that the bombing was
ordered by Iran and carried out by the PFLP-CG, with help from
Hezbollah. It also suggests that Libya may have had a role, which I
don’t rule out.........Last night’s programme has generated a lot of media coverage, but
contains little that hasn’t already been reported previously.........Last year I spoke to a leading German journalist who is very familiar
with both Mesbahi and the Lockerbie story. While he believes that the
evidence that Mesbahi gave in the Mykonos case was credible, he is very
sceptical of his claims about Lockerbie. By Mesbahi’s own admission, all his information about Lockerbie was
second-hand. His accounts to the German police (documented in memos
disclosed to the Abdelbaset’s lawyers pre-trial) were erratic. Some of
his claims were unlikely, others patently nonsense. He claimed that the
Iranian government initiated the operation and Iranian foreign minister
Velajati held talks with Colonel Gadaffi, during which they’d agreed on a
joint operation in which Iran would be responsible for the explosives
and Libya for the electronics. There was no reason for Iran to rely on
the Libyans to sort out the electronics, when they had plenty of other
bomb makers at their disposal. He did not mention the PFLP-GC and
instead suggested that the operation was not only commissioned by the
Iranian government, but also largely undertaken by Iranian agents. He said that the technical instructions for the bomb came from the
Abu Nidal Organisation. He initially claimed that it was assembled and
loaded at Heathrow by Libyan agents who had access to the airport’s
‘secure area’ (by which, presumably, he meant airside), but later
claimed that it was assembled there by a ANO members. He also said that
the bomb was activated by a chemical detonator, which again seems
unlikely. He reported that the Iranians sent explosives to London after
which the green light was given to the Libyans to deliver the electronic
components. This, a source told him, was done by Abdelbaset al-Megrahi
and Lamin Fhimah only days before the bombing. However, there is no
evidence that they were in London at any point. It is clear that
Abdelbaset was in Prague and Switzerland from 9th to 17th December and
that he and Lamin were in Malta on the 20th and 21st. I suspect that
Mesbahi stitched together a story that would implicate Iran, while
accommodating the official ‘Libya-did-it’ narrative.........On the plus side, the film contained powerful interviews with former
CIA investigator Robert Baer, researcher and campaigner Morag Kerr and,
surprisingly, the former Times political editor Robin Oakley. Overall,
though, it was a wasted opportunity.""
The entire post can be found at:
http://www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net/?p=1031
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I
have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses
several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of
the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this
powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and
myself get more out of the site.
The
Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible
years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr.
Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of
Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"
section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It
can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
