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No 10 is accused of masterminding sale of hostages’ stories

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

Tony Blair has been dragged into the “cash for hostages” fiasco as he is accused of allowing the Iran captives to sell their stories as part of a crude Government spin operation.

General Sir Michael Rose, one of Britain’s most respected former Army officers, said he was convinced the decision to allow 15 sailors and Marines held captive in Iran to cash in on their ordeals had been driven by the Prime Minister’s office.

MPs from all sides of the Commons said they too suspected a deliberate strategy aimed at hitting back at Iran, widely seen to have won the “propaganda war” during the detainees’ time in captivity.
As anger grew over the decision to allow Leading Seaman Faye Turney and her fellow captives sell their accounts, the Government refused to explain why ministers failed to intervene.

Downing Street has confirmed that the Prime Minister was notified of the decision, but yesterday repeatedly refused to say when.

In an ominous development for Defence Secretary Des Browne, Number Ten appeared to be attempting to lay the blame for the debacle firmly at the door of the Ministry of Defence.

Leading Seaman Turney was not among the captives who appeared at an open-to-all Ministry of Defence press conference on Friday - prompting suspicions that she was “held back” to increase the value and impact of her story.

In the end, she did a deal with the Labour-supporting Sun newspaper, which has close links to Downing Street, and ITV’s Tonight with Trevor Macdonald programme.

Mr Browne is expected to be hauled before MPs on Monday to answer questions about why Mrs Turney and another captive, Arthur Batchelor, were allowed to hawk their stories for enormous sums.

In the past, the Queen’s Regulations, which govern the behaviour of personnel, have been understood to ban chequebook interviews.

MoD officials claimed Mr Browne had been asked to “note” the Navy’s different interpretation of the rules, rather than approve it.

But Sir Michael, who led the UN force in Bosnia, said: “In my view, the decision to treat the returning hostages as heroes from the outset can only have come from Downing Street - for I cannot believe that any Service chief would have signed up to a policy that is so ultimately damaging to the military ethos.

“There would, however, be a clear political advantage for Blair, who had so evidently mishandled the initial diplomatic situation, and who had been continually outmanoeuvred by President Ahmadinejad throughout the crisis, to receive the returnees as heroes.”

The Tories blamed “ministerial incompetence” for the controversy, accusing Labour of putting spin before the “dignity, professionalism and discipline” of the Armed Forces.

And former Labour defence minister Peter Kilfoyle accused ministers of shirking responsibility for a decision that “beggared belief” and had made Britain’s Armed Forces a “laughing stock” around the world.

“What you cannot get away from is that responsibility rests with ministers,” he said.

Former Tory Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said both the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary must now spell out clearly their involvement in the affair.

“If Mr Blair was indeed aware of it, it shows his judgement was just as poor as Des Browne’s,” he said.

“I think we can safely assume that if these soldiers and Marines had been in any way critical of the Ministry of Defence or the Government, they would not have been given permission to give these interviews.”

Kelvin MacKenzie, the former editor of the Sun, also hinted at political involvement.

“I know that David Hill (Mr Blair’s director of communications) was whistling round newspaper offices last week asking editors if they needed help with their editorials in relation to the freeing of the 15 - ie that you must get over the sense that Tony Blair had had a major triumph,” he said.

Air Marshal Sir John Walker, former chief of Defence Intelligence, demanded to know who was responsible for the “divisive decision” to allow the personnel to sell their stories.

He said allowing them to do so had been “profoundly damaging” and smacked of a “knee-jerk effort to get column inches”.

The head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has also let it be known he was appalled by the decision.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson - favourite to become Labour’s next deputy leader - admitted it had been “wrong” to allow military personnel to take money.

A ban has been hastily imposed on any more paid interviews, pending a review.

Mr Johnson said: “Des Browne is a very good Secretary of State. This is not an issue that should call into question his job.

“These things happen in government when there’s a short time-span. Very quick decisions have to be made.

“We actually think some of these decisions were the wrong decisions, which is why we are revising them to ensure we don’t set any dangerous precedent.”

The permission granted by ministers also led to a “heated” squabble over money among the hostages, it is understood.

A bitter argument raged between the Royal Marines of the group, who suggested equally sharing the spoils of any media fees, and the Navy sailors, who wanted to keep the cash.

A military source said: “The Marines were firmly of the view that whatever money they got should be shared out equally, in the traditional spirit of military comradeship. But the sailors wanted to keep anything they earned.

“Someone stood up and suggested to Faye Turney she should share the money, but she didn’t want that. It was a very heated discussion, to put it mildly.”

Mrs Turney has pledged to give “a percentage” of her fee to the crew of her ship, HMS Cornwall, and place the rest in a trust fund for her three-year-old daughter Molly.

She is presently on compassionate leave, but her future in the Navy appears far from certain.

One senior military source said: “It is gong to be very difficult for her when she returns to work.

“If you’re in the Army or Navy, the people in your unit are your second family. You work together, fight together, socialise together. You don’t stab them in the back by walking off with a load of money.”

An entry on the Army Rumour Service said: “I imagine there are servicewomen up and down the country with mouths agape at this walking embarrassment to her cap badge.”

Another contributor wrote: “I dare not watch it (Turney’s interview) as the TV would be out the window. She has set back the reputation of servicewomen everywhere.”

Navy chiefs are also said to be smarting at the almost universal condemnation.

The First Sea Lord Sir Jonathon Band is under intense pressure to explain what part he played in the damaging strategy.

A spokesman for Mr Blair insisted: “This was a decision taken by the Navy. What’s now important is to look into the issues in the round. I’m not going to get into the process of who knew what when.”

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Kindergarten Girl Handcuffed, Arrested At Fla. School

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

AVON PARK, Fla. — Police arrested a 6-year-old Florida girl and even handcuffed her when she acted out in class. Police officers said Desre’e Watson, a kindergarten student at Avon Elementary School in Highlands County, had a violent run-in with a teacher on Thursday.

“I was scared,” the little girl said.

Police claim the little girl got angry and began kicking and scratching. She even hit a teacher attempting to intervene in the disturbance.

However, the girl’s mother doesn’t believe the story.

“She never fell out. She is very respectful. If I tell her to do anything, she will do it,” Lateshia Wilson said.

School officials said they were forced to call the local police department, who cuffed the child and put her in a police cruiser. The little girl’s mother is angry and said her daughter is usually very respectful.

“I was very upset about that and I feel like they violated my baby’s rights,” Wilson said.

The chief of police said his officers did the right thing.

“When there is an outburst of violence, we have a duty to protect and make that school a safe environment for the students, staff and faculty. That’s why, at this point, the person was arrested regardless what the age,” said Chief Frank Mercurio, Avon Park Police Department.

The kindergartner was booked in the Highland County jail and was charged with a felony and two misdemeanors.

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Spy chief pushes to expand surveillance powers

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

Katherine Shrader

President Bush’s spy chief is pushing to expand the government’s surveillance authority at the same time the administration is under attack for stretching its domestic eavesdropping powers.

National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell has circulated a draft bill that would expand the government’s powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, liberalizing how that law can be used.

Known as ”FISA,” the 1978 law was passed to allow surveillance in espionage and other foreign intelligence investigations, but still allow federal judges on a secretive panel to ensure protections for U.S. citizens at home or abroad and other permanent U.S. residents.

The changes McConnell is seeking mostly affect a cloak-and-dagger category of warrants used to investigate suspected spies, terrorists and other national security threats. The surveillance could include planting listening devices and hidden cameras, searching luggage and breaking into homes to make copies of computer hard drives.

McConnell, who took over the 16 U.S. spy agencies and their 100,000 employees less than three months ago, is signaling a more aggressive posture for his office and will lay out his broad priorities on Wednesday as part of a 100-day plan.

The retired Navy vice admiral recently met with leaders at the National Security Agency, Justice Department and other agencies to learn more about the rules they operate under and what ties their hands, according to officials familiar with the discussions and McConnell’s proposals. The officials described them on condition that they not be identified because the plans are still being developed.

According to officials familiar with the draft changes to FISA, McConnell wants to:

Give the NSA the power to monitor foreigners without seeking FISA court approval, even if the surveillance is conducted by tapping phones and e-mail accounts in the United States.

”Determinations about whether a court order is required should be based on considerations about the target of the surveillance, rather than the particular means of communication or the location from which the surveillance is being conducted,” NSA Director Keith Alexander told the Senate last year.

Clarify the standards the FBI and NSA must use to get court orders for basic information about calls and e-mails such as the number dialed, e-mail address, or time and date of the communications. Civil liberties advocates contend the change will make it too easy for the government to access this information.

Triple the life span of a FISA warrant for a non-U.S. citizen from 120 days to one year, allowing the government to monitor much longer without checking back in with a judge.

Give telecommunications companies immunity from civil liability for their cooperation with Bush’s terrorist surveillance program. Pending lawsuits against companies including Verizon and AT&T allege they violated privacy laws by giving phone records to the NSA for the program.

Extend from 72 hours to one week the amount of time the government can conduct surveillance without a court order in emergencies.

McConnell, Alexander and a senior Justice Department official will appear at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on April 17 to discuss whether to amend the FISA law. Chad Kolton, McConnell’s spokesman, declined to comment on the director’s proposals.

Government officials have been publicly and privately discussing changes to FISA since last year. A senior intelligence official said the goal is to update the law to ensure Americans’ constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure, while improving use of government resources to pursue threats against U.S. interests.

Critics question whether the changes are needed and worry about what the Bush administration has in store, given a rash of allegations about domestic surveillance and abuse of power. ”Congress should certainly be very skeptical about proposals to give this government greater powers to spy on its own citizens,” said Caroline Fredrickson, the Washington legislative office director for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The proposed changes to domestic surveillance would be so broad that ”you have basically done away with the protections of the FISA,” said Kate Martin, head of the Center for National Security Studies.

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., who unsuccessfully sponsored legislation last year to update FISA, said Congress must act because current court orders bolstering the president’s terrorist surveillance program are legally shaky. She wants the law to be rewritten to ensure the NSA can continue the program.

Bush has faced months of criticism for his 2001 decision to order the NSA to monitor the international calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens when terrorism is suspected. More recently, the Justice Department and FBI have been sharply rebuked for bad bookkeeping and other mistakes involving their powers under the USA Patriot Act to secretly demand Americans’ e-mail, financial and other personal records through so-called national security letters. Top government officials have tried to dampen the outrage by promising accountability and have argued that the letters are essential tools to protect against terror threats.

McConnell hinted at his discomfort with current laws last week during a speech before an audience of government executives, saying he worries that current laws and regulations prevent intelligence agencies from using all of their capabilities to protect the nation.

”That’s the big challenge going forward,” he said, acknowledging changes would require significant congressional debate.

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Blair accused of fuelling terrorism and undermining war on poverty

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

Ben Russell and Nigel Morris

Tony Blair is accused today of fuelling terrorism and undermining the campaign against world poverty with a series of foreign policy errors.

A report by the Oxford Research Group (ORG), a think-tank, warned that the “war on terror” had made the world more dangerous.

A separate study by Oxfam warned that Britain’s ability to prevent human rights abuses had been undermined by the invasion of Iraq and a series of other foreign policy mistakes.

The charity said its workers worldwide had recorded a “disturbing trend towards anti-Britishism” fuelled by perceived double standards in UK foreign policy.

The ORG said levels of terrorism were rising, as was support for hardline Islamist ideology. It warned the chance of future outrages on the scale of 9/11 had increased in recent years.

Chris Abbott, the study’s lead author, said: “There is a clear and present danger in an increasingly marginalised majority living in an environmentally constrained world, where military force is more likely to be used to control the consequences of these divisions.”

“Add to this the disastrous effects of climate change, and we are looking at a highly unstable global system by the middle years of the century unless urgent action is taken now.”

Endorsing its conclusion, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “The real threat to global peace and stability lies in our failure to recognise our interdependence - that the well-being of the privileged depends on the well-being of the marginalised.”

Oxfam said it had to turn down British cash for its operations in Iraq and Lebanon in case it was seen as too closely aligned with government policy, and criticised the failure of ministers to call for a ceasefire in last year’s conflict in Lebanon. The report urged Britain to “rebalance” its relationship with Washington and help repair the damage that the Iraq invasion had inflicted on international relations.

Barbara Stocking, director of Oxfam, said: “Labour’s foreign policy has been at its best when it has been in tune with public opinion and international law.

“However, it is now clear that the invasion of Iraq, and the Government’s failure to stand up to all governments when they break international law and harm innocent people, have seriously damaged Britain’s capacity to be a force for good on the world stage.”

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Hizbullah accuses US of secret war

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

- Cheney sanctioned covert operations, says leader
- Militant group does not rule out clashes with Israel

Clancy Chassay in Beirut

Washington is waging a covert war against Hizbullah, according to the militant group, which accuses the US administration of arming anti-Hizbullah militias and seeking to undermine the Lebanese army in moves which could plunge the country back into civil war.”Dick Cheney [US vice president] has given orders for a covert war against Hizbullah…there is now an American programme that is using Lebanon to further its goals in the region,” Sheikh Naim Qasim, Hizbullah’s deputy secretary general, told the Guardian in an interview in a safe house deep in Beirut’s Hizbullah-controlled southern suburbs.

The accusation follows reports in the US and British media that the CIA has been authorised to take covert action against the militant Shia group, which receives substantial military backing from Iran, as part of wider strategy by the Bush administration to prevent the spread of Iranian influence in the region.

According to the reports, US intelligence agencies are authorised to provide “non-lethal” funding to anti-Hizbullah groups in Lebanon and to activists who support the western-backed government of Fouad Siniora.

But Hizbullah accused the Lebanese government of arming groups across the country. “This happens with the knowledge of the prime minister and is facilitated by the security forces under his command,” said Sheikh Qasim.

The Bush administration recently set aside $60m (£30m) to fund the interior ministry’s internal security force, which has almost doubled in size to 24,000 troops. Sheikh Qasim said there was a growing anti-Hizbullah bias in the security services. “The internal security forces have not succeeded in playing a balanced role… The sectarian issue is very delicate when it comes to the security services.”

Cabinet minister Ahmed Fatfat told the Los Angeles Times late last year that the increase in interior ministry personnel was to counter the growing influence of Iran and its Shia ally in Lebanon.

Earlier this year, in his state of the union address, President George Bush accused Hizbullah of “seeking to undermine Lebanon’s legitimately elected government.”

Sheikh Qasim rejected the accusation, claiming Washington had scuppered attempts by the Lebanese government and the Hizbullah-led opposition to reach a compromise. “We think that if it wasn’t for America’s interference, we would have resolved the issue of participating in the government a long time ago,” he said.

“America is forcing the government forces to prolong this crisis, because they want a price for it… They want to tie Lebanon into negotiations that benefit Israel and their plan for a new Middle East.”

The political standoff in Beirut had revolved around an opposition demand for veto power over key cabinet decisions, including an international tribunal to try suspects for the assassination of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

But in a speech at the weekend Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said he had given up hope of reaching a compromise with the government. He said the only way out of the crisis was through a referendum or early elections.

Sheikh Qasim said Hizbullah did not rule out another confrontation with Israel this summer and confirmed that the group was rearming: “We are prepared for the possibility of another adventure or the demand of American policy that might push the IDF [Israeli Defence Force] in that direction.”

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