The mainstream media for the most part has moved on. But there are a few more gleanings to be had, of perhaps the most interesting comes from the Daily Mirror, which labels al-Hilli an extremist on the grounds that he was against the war in Iraq, disapproved of the behaviour of Israel and had doubts over 9/11 – which makes a great deal of the population “extremist”. But the Mirror has the only mainstream mention I can find of the possibility that Mossad carried out the killings. Given Mr al-Hilli’s profession, the fact he is a Shia, the fact he had visited Iran, and the fact that Israel heas been assassinating scientists connected to Iran’s nuclear programme, this has to be a possibility. There are of course other possibilities, but to ignore that one is ludicrous.
Which leads me to the argument of Daily Mail crime reporter, Stephen Wright, that the French police should concentrate on the idea that this was a killing by a random Alpine madman or racist bigot. Perfectly possible, of course, and the anti-Muslim killings in Marseille might be as much a precedent as Mossad killings of scientists. But why the lone madman idea should be the preferred investigation, Mr Wright does not explain. What I did find interesting from a man who has visited many crime scenes are his repeated insinuations that the French authorities are not really trying very hard to find who the killers were, for example:
the crime scene would have been sealed off for a minimum of seven to ten days, to allow detailed forensic searches for DNA, fibres, tyre marks and shoe prints to take place.
Nearby bushes and vegetation would have been searched for any discarded food and cigarette butts left by the killer, not to mention the murder weapon.
But from what I saw at the end of last week, no such searches had taken place and potentially vital evidence could have been missed. House to house inquiries in the local area had yet to be completed and police had not made specific public appeals for information about the crime. No reward had been put up for information about the shootings.
Behind the scenes, what other short cuts have been taken? Have police seized data identifying all mobile phones being used in the vicinity of the murders that day?
The idea that the French authorities – who are quite as capable as any other of solving cases – are not really trying very hard is an interesting one.
Which leads me to this part of a remarkable article from the Daily Telegraph, which if true points us back towards a hit squad and discounts the ides that there was only one gun:
Claims that only one gun was used to kill everybody is likely to be disproved by full ballistics test results which are out in October.
While the 25 spent bullet cartridges found at the scene are all of the same kind, they could in fact have come from a number of weapons of the same make.
This throws up the possibility of a well-equipped, highly-trained gang circling the car and then opening fire.
Both children were left alive by the killers, who had clinically pumped bullets into everybody else, including five into Mr Mollier.
Zainab was found staggering around outside the car by Brett Martin, a British former RAF serviceman who cycled by moments after the attack, but he saw nobody except the schoolgirl.
Her sister, Zeena, was found unscathed and hiding in the car eight hours later.
Both sisters are now back in Britain, and are believed to have been reunited at a secret location near London.
There are of course a number of hit squad options, both governmental and private, which might well involve iraqi or Iranian interests – on both of which the mainstream media have been very happy to speculate while almost unanimously ignoring Israel.
But what interests me is why the Daily Telegraph choose, in the face of all the evidence, to minimise the horrific nature of the attack by stating that “Both children were left alive by the killers”? Zainab was not left alive by design, she was shot in the chest and her skull was stove in, which presumably was a pretty serious attempt to kill a seven year-old child. The other girl might very well have succeeded in hiding from the killers under her mother’s skirts, as she hid from the first rescuers, and then for eight hours from the police.
The Telegraph article claims to be informed by sources close to the investigation. So they believe it was a group of people, and feel motivated to absolve those people from child-killing. Now what could the Daily Telegraph be thinking?
Well remembered Ricki,I’d forgotten any arguments,
Saad would have been given the old passport back so the new pP wouldn’t be a problem, but, he also had ID of Kadhim’s to back up his own ID.
I think we may have something here
One thing that’s always niggled with me & that is the campsite owner or the woman who we were led to believe was, remember how quickly she jumped in to cover for the dark ,well dressed chap seen at the site as reported by the Dutch?
She told the enquiry the chap had ‘flown out the next day’ after a two day visit was it ?
From his description I ask, why would he stay at a campsite & not a hotel as he wasn’t a family member ?
Ricki, sorry I forgot to answer your question about crossing the border without a PP,no problem, both countries are part of the Schengen agreement…..
Good knowledge Katie yes well the mission in Geneva could well have been where they visited, the argument with the chap at the camp site has come back into news today!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10404940/Saad-al-Hilli-seen-in-heated-argument-before-Alps-murders.html
OMG Ricki !!
I have been out all afternoon & hadn’t seen that !
Hehehe the thot plickens. 😉
Is this another deception by Maillaud’s exposed, Ricki ?
He says they never found the ‘two’ passports, when in fact there should be four…………. if two were found in the car &
if I remember correctly they were said to be for the mother & there were two ages hence the confusion.
So, by this latest revelation where are the children’s PP’s ?
The law for children to have a separate PP came in years ago .
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/babies-must-have-own-passports-1176056.html
Another thought on those PP’s, could it be they were not trying not to renew but to convert them to Iraqi PP ?
Would that explain why they didn’t care about the start of term at the children’s school………….they had in fact left ?
Did Saad not have a birth certificate & that’s why he took his fathers papers with him ?
Those mysterious disappearances from the campsite…….Saad going to see if the meeting at the Mission, or with its representative , was confirmed or not ?
One thing is for sure:
They would not be able to enter france coming from the UK without a passport for everybody in that car including the two children. And with an iraqi passport they would need a schengen visa.
No way that they used the ordinary iraqi passport.
They all travelled with uk/swedish passports or else with diplomat passports.
Does the UNO have diplomat passports for their top employees?
Did they have diplomat passports?
That would be another story then.
With the investigation regarding both families and their links to government top positions and UNO then i would say: yes, they travelled with diplomat passports.
HOT FIND!
United Nations laissez-passer
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_laissez-passer
As with national passports, some countries/regions accept it for entry without the need for a visa (e.g., Kenya, United Kingdom, Schengen Area, Lebanon, etc.), while most require a visa before it can be accepted for entry to the country. This is regardless of the nationality of the UNLP holder.
Most officials hold a blue UNLP (up to D-1 level), which is similar in legal status to aservice passport (however, diplomatic status may be conferred on the holder if the visa issued in the UNLP is a diplomatic visa). A red UNLP is issued to particularly high officials (D-2 and above), and depending on their rank, this may confer diplomatic privileges and the red UNLP may therefore be similar to adiplomatic passport.
A data page has a visual zone and amachine-readable zone. The visual zone has a photograph of the holder, data about the passport, and data about the LP holder much similar to a normal passport. The nationality and place of birth of the passport holder is not mentioned in a UNLP, but the UN is used in fields similar to ‘issuing country’.PhotographType [of document, which is “LP” for “Laissez-Passer”]Code [of the issuing organization, which is “UNO/UNA” for “United Nations Organization/Agency”]Laissez-passer No.SurnameGiven Name(s)Title [Job Title]Date of BirthSexOfficial of [UNO/UNA for United Nations Organization/Agency]Date of IssueDate of ExpirationAuthority [United Nations/Nations Unies followed by the code of the issuing city, e.g. GVA for Geneva]Signature (on the opposite page)
and now hold on your breath and read the below paragraph and in particular NOTE the date!!!!!!!!!!!!
Effective 3 September 2012, all applicants for new LPs received by the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG) will be issued the new “e-UNLPs” and there will be no renewal of current UNLPs.
That could explain something!!!!
Going to Geneve to apply for a new UNLP passport simply because the old ones expired Sept 3rd.
Everytime you want to get a new passport then the applicant leaves the old passport with the registration office and that old one is made invalid and it usually takes 3 days before you may pick up the new passport. Could that explain that they had no passports? Eric should search at the UN in geneve for their old and new passports. They were dead before being able to pick up their new UNLP passport in geneve !!!
Details on the new e-UNLP passport application in Geneve effective from september 3rd 2012:
The new “e-UNLP” is fully compliant with international standards established by the International civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). These include the use of bio-chip technology, facial recognition identification and employs strict photographic standards for passport documents. All “e-UNLPS” will be issued with a five-year fixed duration, regardless of contract expiration and will not contain dependents. The validity period of the new e-UNLP cannot be extended and additional visa pages cannot be added. Existing LPs will retain the validity date stipulated in the document.
To apply for a new e-UNLP:
• Fill in Application for Issuance or Renewal of the UN Laissez-Passer (TTS2)
• (Hand writing or corrections are not accepted). It will be certified in New York -not in the country office.
• Submit photographs as specified in the form
• Enclose a copy of your current national passport
• Copy of your last Personnel Action Form (PAF). Contact your BES-UNFPA focal point if you have difficulties finding it.
• Enclose the old UNLP.
• Indicate a return address and a phone number
• International staff stationed in their countries of nationality should attach a copy of the invitation letter/Travel request from their supervisor to travel on behalf of the UN.
• The UNLP application should be signed by applicant and shall be certified in HQ- not in the country office Applications that does not meet the above requirements (including picture requirements indicated below), maybe rejected or delayed. If you are in doubt, please send a scanned copy by email (before sending the original) to your BES-UNFPA focal point for verification. For urgent UNLP requests, send by express mail to: BES-UNFPA (DHR) 605 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10158 United States Phone: +1 212 297 5000 Issued UNLPs will be sent by UN pouch. If you would like to receive your newly issued UNLP through express mail, please provide a COA to charge for the delivery fee and an address. The COA should have the following information: • Account # • Fund Code • Department Code • Project ID • Activity • Implementing Agency For Express email, the account must be one of the two accounts #: Account Number: 72415 or 72430 Express mail companies will only deliver to physical address (not P.O Box address). A telephone number should be provided too. To follow up on the status of your UNLP, please contact UNFPA travel Unit directly
That is the key:
http://www.unep.org/geneva/asc/Portals/102/summary-staff-instructions.doc
In Geneve you could still get an old UNLP until sept 24 2012.
What was the advantage for an old UNLP?
You could sign in your relatives into that UNLP.
Meaning that your close relatives (children, grandchildren, husband) could get an UNLP even if they dont work for the UNO.
With the new e-UNLP (in geneva starting from sept 24th 2012 and in new york starting from sept 3rd 2012 you could not sign in your relatives any longer into your UN diplomatic passport.
Was Mrs al Allaf the UNLP holder as a possibly high ranked WHO member?
An UNLP expires after 5 years.
Thanks for posting that article Ricki Tarr
25 Oct, 2013 – 9:46 am. Great back-ground of the way British Intelligence and Special Branch works which has little relationship to the public statements of the Home Secretary in Parliament. It is wholly consistent with suggestions made here, that SIS would have taken full advantage of the Iraqi ex pat community in London, particularly from at least 2002 onwards, when it became clear the US would go in with the UK hanging on its tail. I flagged SAH getting his British citizenship only months before and given his modest income, payment details could be very relevant also as is the very obvious armed protection subsequently?
Katie
25 Oct, 2013 – 11:23 am please refrain from referencing me in your posts and just stick to your own point of view. You are not “doing a Tim” nor even if you were, do you need to apologise for it. Nor do I appreciate your faux intimacies in the the form of
“Several things there Timbo.” @ Katie
25 Oct, 2013 – 8:06 am. I am not “Timbo”. I am “TimV” on here and nothing I have read by you or another person on this thread inspires the least confidence in them.
Ricki Tarr
25 Oct, 2013 – 5:06 pm and thanks for this one too. So now Parisien lets out another tid-bit. Where is Marlin? This is precisely what we predicted. Having said all along SM had nothing to do with it (99.9% certain EM recently said) and the reason for the attack was in Britain, Panorama issue a documentary with significant new evidence (the forestry man and ZAH saying SM was the primary target and racialist French police!) redirecting cause to France and seriously embarrassing the French investigation requiring EM to explain why a description of a suspect was not issued or details of the forestry evidence. Now from the French side we have the emergence of the heated argument just night before the murders with a stranger. So again we ask, what would justify this information being kept secret for over a year? If several saw the two, as is being suggested, there must be descriptions/photofits of him as well that should have been put out immediately. One other point that hasn’t been mentioned as far as I know, Britain is signed up to European arrest warrants. So why didnt EM issue one for ZAH?
spot on BB (as always) “Effective 3 September 2012, all applicants for new LPs received by the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG) will be issued the new “e-UNLPs” and there will be no renewal of current UNLPs. ” certainly fits and if not HUGE coincidence
“Baghdad’s Spy: A Personal Memoir of Espionage and Intrigue from Iraq to London
by Corinne Souza
3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 5 ratings · 2 reviews
Baghdad’s Spy is a unique portrait of espionage family life as told from the perspective of the daughter of a senior spy. Corinne Souza breaks the last taboo of British espionage as she describes the impact that working for MI6 can have on a spy’s family. Starting in Iraq, where her father was recruited by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), she recalls the vivacity of Baghdad’s cosmopolitan society in the 1960s; how her father’s harmonious relationship with the SIS collapsed in the 1970s and 1980s; and exposes SIS failure prior to the Gulf War. In what is at times a shocking portrait, she reveals how the treatment her father received was part of the disintegration of British Intelligence in Iraq that was to have such consequences in March 2003. This revealing memoir is an extraordinary account of a family’s secret life, the involvement of children in espionage, and a man’s struggle to balance loyalty to the Crown with the increasingly amoral demands of what became an incompetent service.(less)”
Good find, tim.
So then, who exactly is “corinne souza”? The book was published in 2003.
That certainly is an author’s fake name because this isnt an iraqi name.
Perhaps this isnt even a woman but a man.
Baghdad’s Spy: A Personal Memoir of Espionage and Intrigue from Baghdad to London
Corinne Souza MAINSTREAM Publishing Company, 2003 – 238 Seiten2 RezensionenBaghdad’s Spy is the story of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Services (SIS) – often referred to as MI6 – as told from the unique perspective of a senior SIS spy’s daughter. Souza breaks the last taboo of British esponiage – namely, the impact that Crown Service can have on a spy’s family – and describes the thrill and spills of espionage as a way of life.Beginning with the murder of the ‘Boy King’ of Iraq in 1958, the year her father was recruited, and following through to her personal experience of an SIS fiasco prior to the Gulf War after her father’s death, Souza depicts how the SIS attempted to silence her father for a number of years. Recalling the extravagant arrangements the Crown made for her father upon returning to London from Iraq, Souza tells in chilling detail how things turned sour as he struggled to balance loyalty to the Crown with the increasingly amoral demands of what had become a renegade service. The murky world of lobbying in Thatcher’s Britain is re-visited as Souza explains how she became a lobbyist and was expected to inherit her father’s career by spying on Labour MPs (an inheritance she rejected). We learn of the Labour MP who came to her aid, the former senior Conservative Secretary of State who assisted her, and of the journal editor who enabled her to tell her story. The SIS no longer has senior spies capable of penetrating key diaspora and Souza argues that, as a result, it was unable to assist the CIA in preventing the horror of 9/11. Explosive and touching in equal parts, Baghdad’s Spy is an autobiography with a difference that should not, and will not, be missed.
Don’t miss this one.Engrossing. This extremely detailed and sobering account will provoke sufficient concern in the mind of anyone to think twice about either signing up to serve in the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS); or, if already an agent, to seek to have and maintain a normal family life.My previous knowledge of 1960’s Iraq was sketchy, to say the least. This book has, in its capacity as one source, in part remedied that gap. I found it especially and compellingly fascinating to read of Corrine Souza’s early childhood memories. Her acute observational skills in reading people were (and no doubt still are) remarkable. I do not mean to be flippant when I say that B.P. would have been intensely proud of this particular member of the 1st Bagdad Brownie Pack.I had long wondered why British newspapers published and television broadcast so very, very, little news on the 1980 – 1989 war between Iraq and Iran. This eye-opening and gripping book provides a keenly observed, justified, and persuasive insight into the tragic political and diplomatic failures from which that pointless and dreadful war arose. Mr Souza, the author’s remarkable father, was clearly an honourable man, whose experience, knowledge, and innate supremely sensitive skills necessary to successfully transact business and collect intelligence in the Arabic world, were 100% supported, complemented, and strengthened by his loving and very able wife. But, tragically, in the latter part of his career those precious gifts which flowered when supported through trust and care were undermined and wrecked by the brute self-serving ignorant and traitorous stupidity of Mr Souza’s final case officer, a certain Alexis Forte. I read with increasing disbelief and terrible, deep, grief and sadness, of how the corporate culture within SIS changed, such that it disrupted and wrecked the fruitful successes of years of steady, careful, and invaluable work. … to the point where Corinne Souza is able to convincingly argue that the NY World Trade Centre might still be standing but for that massive failure of SIS to successfully nurture and produce a new generation of intelligence officers capable of protecting Britain and her allies.I’ll never be able to watch a James Bond film, or read any John le Carré book again. Bring back Erskine Childers and John Buchan. The painstakingly patient and accurate work which yields sound Intelligence requires the minds and souls of honourable men and women. It can never be simply an ‘adventure’ paid for by the taxpayer.
http://isbn.abebooks.com/mz/99/84/1840188499.jpg
MI6 case officer’s “Alexis Forte” fake name is constructed from two stereo satellites used to detect impulsive events (e.g. nuclear tests). Was case officer “Alexis Forte” involved with an exile Iraqi working in the satellite surveillance?
ALEXIS FORTE:
Near-Stereo VHF Observations of Impulsive Ionospheric Events using the FORTE RF Experiment and the ALEXIS Blackbeard Experiment Diane Roussel-Dupré, Dorothea M DeLapp, and Morris B Pongratz Los Alamos National Laboratory
Background »Satellites have similar orbits–ALEXIS: 750 x 850 km, 70 deg inclination–FORTE: 800 x 830 km, 70 deg inclination »Every 2 weeks, ALEXIS & FORTE orbit “beat” such that satellites are in close proximity to each other »Latitude of orbit overlaps are at ≈+/- 20 deg which encompasses regions of equatorial storming
ALEXIS has simple dipole antenna pattern with nadir null lFORTE has nadir enhanced antenna pattern lMost events (lightning & LAPP) have been at large FORTE nadir angles allowing cross calibration at large nadir angles
If assume isotropic radiationfrom impulsive source, getreasonable agreement withLAPP angular responsedetermination for westerncloudlSource strength ≈ 0.4 MWlSatellite separation asviewed at source 10-20degree depending on whichcloudlSource elevation angle tosatellites ≈ 10 degree
Both Blackbeard and FORTE configured to collect impulsive events »Blackbeard triggered on event at 11:46:01.595 UTC–2 events in the 5MB record »FORTE’s closest triggered event was several seconds away even though collected data throughout trigger window »Was the event over the horizon for FORTE and thus not detected
Used joint Blackbeard-FORTE LAPP calibration pulses to determine preliminary antenna lobe calibration lDetermining correct thresholds for triggering took several attempts lOne joint event observed »Either consistent with isotropic radiation over 10 degrees viewed nearly perpendicular to radial if western cloud or factor of 3 nonisotropic if eastern clouds lFuture work: mining of data in hand to calculate events strengths observed by one satellite and when event not observed by other satellite
Bluebird
25 Oct, 2013 – 8:37 pm
They could easily have had two passports. My husband had two British PP quite legally.
Likewsie the AH’s could have had two one British & one Iraqi……this would be true if he also was with some sort of Intelligence agency.
Tim, do try to laugh a little.
Bluebird
25 Oct, 2013 – 9:53 pm
Could that explain that they had no passports? Eric should search at the UN in geneve for their old and new passports. They were dead before being able to pick up their new UNLP passport in geneve !!!
I beat you to that by a few hours . 🙂
Katie
25 Oct, 2013 – 11:10 am
‘I’ve just had a thought as to where the passports could be. Were we not told Saad ‘had’ been to Geneva but not to the bank ?
Could they possibly have been here at the Iraqi Mission.
Oh & Tim, it was not the quality of your post I was referring to,simply the quantity.
Tim V
26 Oct, 2013 – 12:37 am
“One other point that hasn’t been mentioned as far as I know, Britain is signed up to European arrest warrants. So why didn’t EM issue one for ZAH?”
On what grounds , suspicion he had quarrelled with his brother ???
Tim V
26 Oct, 2013 – 12:37 am
Ricki Tarr
25 Oct, 2013 – 5:06 pm a
“Having said all along SM had nothing to do with it (99.9% certain EM recently said) and the reason for the attack was in Britain”
I still believe it was/is , instructions came from the powerful Iraqi living in the UK….. backed by the French agents.
The photofit will almost certainly be of the man at the campsite & the reason it wasn’t shown immediately was deliberate,not Maillauds decision, he’s taken the rap for much of which he had no control, I suspect he’s had to follow instructions/requests from those who planned the op.
His discomfort has been evident all along.
For those who believe this crime was committed to snatch a few secrets or some cash, I urge them to think again………would anyone whether it be Zaid, Sorrenson’s Mossad or Iranians or even the Russians, kill a whole family for those reasons, especially when AH was a free man travelling alone on many occasions ?
This amounts to a resounding ‘no’ in my view.
Trapping & killing him would have been a simple job for the experts.
All three adults were killed for one of two reasons, neither of them money, they either knew something or it was a vengeance killing,retribution for something done years ago…………my feeling is the former.
It’s V-E-R-Y interesting what Bluebird has found re. UN passports. Because it could be those UN passports that was laying on the floor of the car, and the very reference to UNO in this case was deemed inappropriate for the public to hear. The public simply couldn’t stomach any reference to UNO without wanting to ask further — embarrassing? – questions.
I think the UNLP is a false trail.
Yes it’s possible Saad was applying for one if he was thinking of changing his lifestyle,but unlikely as he was not known to be a traveller.
Apart from France it seems he only travelled twice,once to Iran & once to Iraq in all his years in the UK,even then they could have been one & the same trip.
Secondly he would have entered France on a British passport & once in France did not need one OR a visa to get to Geneva.
That is great work BB, something’s fell into place yesterday, meat on the bone!
Saad was a British citizen, which would mean he had a BP, Igbal held an Iraqi passport & her mother a Swedish PP.
Both children were born in the UK & would be travelling on separate BP’s .
Because the Brits & the Swedish passport holder do not need visas to get into & travel across France to crossing the border into Geneva, which the two PP’s in the car ‘ could ‘ show that Igbal had hers with her for this reason. No one has said if there was a visa in it or the mothers.
So the question remains……………where are the THREE missing PP’s
This article is wrong………if we believe the earlier reports of Igbal having an Iraqi PP.
“Le Parisien’s report came a day after French prosecutors said they had still not found the British passports of Mr al-Hilli and his wife, adding to the mystery surrounding the case which has seen just one arrest.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10404940/Saad-al-Hilli-seen-in-heated-argument-before-Alps-murders.html
OFF-TOPIC (but not really) One of the most level-headed, systematic analyses of the historic 1963 event. After Kennedy, Watergate, Contra, drug-running, two Iraq invasions either side of 9/11, extraordinary kidnapping, torture, drone assassination, now Snowden (to name but a few)makes the CIA a profoundly criminal organisation carrying out directly unconstitutional activities with the direct and intimate involvement of Presidents! State sponsored lying is integral to the whole operation. It absorbs 60 billion dollars and this excludes illicit money, none of which is open to scrutiny for which “terrorism” is absolutely essential for its continuance.
The lesson is that once an operation has been approved, ostensible investigative and judicial processes are quite futile.
sorry this is it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsMKMMlleOE
if you have time its a MUST
Katie
26 Oct, 2013 – 7:59 am ???? Have you overlooked the fact that ZAH was WAS arrested? So clearly there WAS prima face evidence or he was arrested for some other reason. You have missed my point entirely. If he was arrested by the British at the behest of the French, why didn’t they issue a EAW which would have meant they could have had access to him?