Western European News Digest
Lord Butler To 'Correct' Blair's Spin on Iraq Intelligence
In September, Lord Butler will address the House of Lords on his report on the government's Iraq intelligence, to "correct" the spin Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to put on it. Blair had twisted the findings of the Butler Report to make it appear uncritical of the Blair government. "He is no friend of Labourfar from it," one of Lord Butler's colleagues said.
Blair's allies are taking no chances, and are preparing more spin. They have invited Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to address the Labour Party conference in September, so he can say how great it was to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
Former Officer May Complicate MI6 Chief's Job
The case of former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson has resurfaced, in a way that could put Tony Blair's new MI6 chief John Scarlett on the spot. Tomlinson left MI6 at the end of the 1990s, after which he gave the spy agency a spot of trouble, including an attack on Britain's foreign intelligence agency, which led to his conviction for allegedly revealing "official secrets." He served part of a sentence, and then left Britain. He now lives in the south of France. The case has been dormant for several years.
It was reported over the weekend of Aug. 14-15, that Britain's Special Branch interrogated three Israeli journalists, Guy Leshem and Ronen Bergman of the daily Yediot Ahronoth, and Yossi Melman, concerning information Tomlinson gave them on an MI6 investigation of an Israeli named Nahum Manbar, who was convicted in Israel for selling forbidden goods to Iran. Tomlinson was involved in Manbar's defense, and claimed that Manbar was working for the Israeli Mossad.
According to the Sunday Times, Tomlinson thinks that the British are reopening the Manbar case, as a way of putting pressure on the former spy not to testify at the Metropolitan Police inquiry into the Aug. 31, 1997 death of Princess Diana. Tomlinson claims that her death was an assassination, modelled after a proposed MI6 hit plan against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Tomlinson also claims that Henri Paul, the driver of the car Diana and Dodi Fayed were riding in, was an MI6 agent. Tomlinson was quoted saying, "It seems strange that senior police officers should be flown out to Israel at public expense to question journalists about matters I have covered in detail in my book. I can only think this has something to do with my meeting detectives shortly to give a statement on intelligence matters related to Diana's death. Perhaps someone wants to stop me testifying."
The Sunday Times Aug. 16 also comments that the reopening of the case could put new MIG director John Scarlett on the spot because of his role in "sexing up" pre-war Iraq intelligence reports. According to this report, Scarlett will have to decide whether to release information on the two points Tomlinson will address at the inquest into Princess Diana's death. In 1997, Scarlett testified for the state at Tomlinson's trial for violating the Official Secrets Act.
The Sunday Times also locates this latest action against Tomlinson as part of a pattern of going after whistleblowers in the intelligence establishment. They mention John Morrison, investigator for the House of Commons' intelligence security committee, who was fired because he criticized the Blair government over the flawed Iraq intelligence.
Bomb Defused Near Italian Prime Minister's Residence
Italian police defused a bomb outside Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Sardinian residence on Aug, 18, shortly after a visit there by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family.
Italian police continued to search the area for a possible second bomb after a local left-wing group claimed to have planted two explosive devices, but no second bomb was found. The caller had phoned the local paper, L'Unione Sarda, claiming to represent the Proletarian Nuclei for Communism (NPC).
The leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera described the NPC as an "anarcho-separatist group," which has carried out 20 attacks in the past four years, including small-scale bombings of government party headquarters in Sardinia. Corriere added that the group had given the location of one bomb, in a large bin near the center of tourist town Porto Rotondo, less than a mile from Berlusconi's Villa Certosa. Police found the bomb 10 minutes later. The device had been set to explode at 2 a.m.
Austerity Push Leads To Hungarian PM's Resignation
Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy resigned on Aug. 19 as result of a major dispute within his own party, the Socialist MSZP, and its coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats. The ouster of Medgyessy by the Socialist Party Presidium followed Medgyessy's attempt on Aug. 18 to dismiss Economics Minister Istvan Csillag, who had been nominated by the Free Democrats, which has four ministries and 20 seats in the 386-seat parliament).
While a successor to Medgyessy will be announced in the next days, Medgyessy's government had been in crisis for weeks, during Hungary's "adjustment" to membership in the expanded 25-nation European Union. Since Hungary joined the EU in May, disagreements have erupted over which areas the government should prioritize in the midst of a budget deficit that is among the EU's largest, and growing, thanks to high oil prices.
The resignation of Medgyessy is the third in Eastern Europe in the last three months, following that of Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller (SLD), and of Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidlaall three of them being Socialist Party members who were trying to adapt to the policy of globalization, and to bring the deficit under control with draconian fiscal austerity. With rigorous austerity measures in Hungary (in particular cuts in health and education, as well as state subsidies) the Socialist coalition government under Medgyessy wanted to create the conditions for Hungary to fulfill the Maastricht "deficit criteria," join the EU zone, and prevent the devaluation of the currency, the Forint, as well as lowering horrendously high interest rates.
Even the gnomes at the leading Swiss daily, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung, had to admit that this policy "found applause in the financial markets but not among the people," who dealt the government a heavy blow in the European elections. Now the left wing of the Hungarian Socialist Party is demanding a correction in policy, but it remains an open question whether the Free Democrats will accept a change in economic policy.
Did USA Pre-Select New EU Commission Members?
France's Le Canard Enchainé charges in its Aug. 19 edition that all of the new European Union commissioners appointed by Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso were "pre-approved" by the U.S., according to two confidential memos from the Quai d'Orsay (French Foreign Ministry).
The intelligence leak sheet confirms previous reports that Barroso worked to weaken the influence of France and Germany in the EU Commission, by giving all powerful economic portfoliostrade, competition, internal markets, economic and monetary affairsto Britain or to countries in the Anglo-American sphere of influence.
Tony Blair's guru Peter Mandelson became Trade Commissioner, Spain's Joaquin Almunia will be Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, while former Irish Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy got the Internal Market and Services, and Holland's Neelie Kores got the much-feared post of Competition.
Even though France and Germany are among the five vice presidencies, Barroso indicated already that the principal Vice President is Margot Wallstroem from Sweden, a new member. France had lobbied to get the Competition or Internal Markets, and Germany wanted a kind of economics "super ministry."
Le Canard says that what characterizes all the new commissioners in the key posts, is that they are all "liberal hardliners" (in economics, not politics) and "pro-American." The new commission has a strong flavor of an Anglo-American manipulated "New Europe," against the Franco-German-dominated old Europe. French officialdom is letting it be known that it will regain influence via the Council of Ministers. Clearly however, if it maintains the present policies, the EU will be heading rapidly towards its doom.
Halliburton Links Come Back To Haunt Dick Cheney
Scotland's Glasgow Herald of Aug. 15 asks, in effect: Where is the money that the U.S. government has paid to Halliburton since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq: "An audit by the [U.S.] Defense Contract Auditing Agency found that Halliburton could not properly account for the work, and the watchdog is demanding answers within 45 days over the company's pricing of the contracts." It continues, "The usual procedure is that estimates run some way behind the actual costs, so that the U.S. government does not have to pay money back from a company. To date, Halliburton has charged the government $4.3 billion under the contract42% of which the auditors are not happy with." (emphasis added)
The Herald reviews some of Halliburton's legal troubles, and warns: "There is more to Halliburton than a bit of political mudslinging and much more to come on the issue. One of the key aspects in the unravelling of many a scandal is the decision by key figures to cooperate with the authorities. This practice often has the added advantage for those involved that it cuts down the jail time."
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