I first met Moazzam Begg in 2005 when he came to support my campaign in Blackburn against Jack Straw. I was immediately struck by how gentle he is. For somebody who has been through Guantanamo Bay and suffered torture and injustice, he is free of bitterness and rancour to a degree I find quite astonishing. It is an extraordinary spiritual quality, comparable to that of Nelson Mandela. He does not hate. That impression has only been reinforced every time I see him, and comes over well in his book.
What the British state did to me for opposing their torture programme was bad enough, but nothing to what Moazzam suffered. Yet he is much less embittered than I am.
The fall of Libya further revealed the terrible truth about the extraordinary rendition programme and undeniable evidence of British complicity in torture. This included of course the appalling case of the Belhadj family, orchestrated by criminal torturers Jack Straw and Sir Mark Allen. As Assad’s Syria was even more involved than Libya in the extraordinary rendition programme as a supplier of torture for the UK and US intelligence services, Moazzam sensibly concluded that evidence may now be available there to be recovered from the chaos. He has been to Syria to that end.
Last week my friend Ray McGovern called on Moazzam and discussed Syria. Ray briefed me on the conversation, and Moazzam’s take was one of great regret at the bloodshed and despair at the ferocity of inter-Muslim rifts. It was the opposite of violent partisanship to support one side.
Moazzam Begg has not been arrested for terrorism in Syria. He has been arrested to stop him digging for further evidence of complicity in torture by senior politicians and civil servants in the UK.
Begg beat the torture cowards and they can’t stand it. He retained his dignity and his peace and the timmies who tortured him are more scared of him than ever.
Courtenay Would you agree with John Locke who said ‘Where the law ends, tyranny begins’?
‘An alleged murderer of FOUR British soldiers isn’t going to be prosecuted because of faulty paperwork.’ (Lee Rigby)
The paperwork was fine (1). It was an official guarantee of non-prosecution of the murderer, and many others. It is causing a major ruckus, as apparently no-one outside the inner cabinet and the Provos were told a damn thing about it. Not even the CPS, it would seem.
(1)as far as an unattributable phone call with the right SIS codeword can ever be considered paperwork…
I see the description of the raids (all media) contains the words ‘intelligence-led’. And that suggests to me that Assad’s people, deeply complicit in CIA rendition during Gulf 2, know that Begg has a fair idea where the bodies are buried – literally, perhaps. No need to add to his, Assad’s woes by grabbing a British citizen and disappearing him, as the possibility that he, Assad, may need to do some more deals with the UK remains. So something disturbing about Begg was transmitted to the right quarters…
See also –
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/01/obama-opposes-assads-human-rights-violations-now-but-not-when-they-were-useful-to-the-us-rendition-program.html
“I see the description of the raids (all media) contains the words ‘intelligence-led’. And that suggests to me that Assad’s people, deeply complicit in CIA rendition during Gulf 2, know that Begg has a fair idea where the bodies are buried – literally, perhaps.”
That isn’t exactly what “intelligence-led” means. All it means is that they haven’t got any actual evidence. Intelligence led policing is a new proactive form of policing pioneered in America which is replacing the old reactive method whereby someone commits a crime first then the police arrest them later.
They’re just covering their backs for when he is released without charge.
I think I’ve worked out on what grounds Moazzam Begg was arrested. He helps run the charity “Cage Prisoners”. On Sunday the spooks put out a piece in the Sunday Times:
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/National/article1379084.ece
“Jihadists using charity as cover”. It looks like they, the spooks, have raised investigations with the Charity Commission into certain charities.
“Michelle Russell, head of investigations and enforcement at the watchdog, said more than a fifth of its 48 current terror investigations now relate to Syria.”
Of course the more inquiries the spooks raise that relate to Syria and charities with connections there, the more relating to Syria there are going to be. One interesting detail about the Charity Commission website is that it advises anybody making a complaint to contact the charities first. Bet the spooks missed out that step. I’m really busy at the moment and have limited computer access but would appreciate it if someone would raise a FOI with the Charity Commission to see if whoever initiated these complaints went through the procedure of contacting the charity first with each complaint.
Missing your link there, Fred (1)…here’s a good working definition-
http://jratcliffe.net/research/ilp.htm
Intelligence-led policing is a business model and managerial philosophy *sign of cross* – BZ where data analysis and crime intelligence are pivotal to an objective, decision-making framework that facilitates crime and problem reduction, disruption and prevention through both strategic management and effective enforcement strategies that target prolific and serious offenders.
(1) I know, you didn’t supply one. It was your own definition. However, it doesn’t in the least conflict with what I said, which did not attempt to define it.
Arbed at 3.51 p.m. yesterday. Thanks for your links. No time to watch the videos at the moment but Moazzam’s own testimony in CAGE is well worth a second read. Thanks.
http://www.cageuk.org/article/real-reason-behind-confiscation-my-passport
“Michelle Russell, head of investigations and enforcement at the watchdog, said more than a fifth of its 48 current terror investigations now relate to Syria.”
…
and we know their addresses because that’s where we send their paychecksFixed.
The number of likes on the Free Moazzam Begg FB page has increased by about 1500 since yesterday. Do your bit please.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Moazzam-Begg/309986402460025
AnnaP, thanks for your support, and the link. Sorry I did not respond but I have limited access to a computer at the moment.
“I find the whole thing so disgusting – this government is beyond filthy.”
Me too. The world we live in has become a despicable place. The masses are so complacent. Young people are much more vulnerable than they used to be. They have not learned to question authority about important issues, and are mind-controlled by games and social-networking sites. I fear for society.
Je
26 Feb, 2014 – 8:40 pm
“An alledged murderer of FOUR British soldiers isn’t going to be prosecuted because of faulty paperwork.”
I don’t think it was “faulty paperwork” that stopped the trial Je but a secret deal between the Blair government; the security services; the IRA and loyalist paramilitary groups, that needs to be kept out of the public sphere.
It is revealing that:
“After a meeting on Tuesday morning with Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, the prosecution told the high court in London it would not appeal against the ruling…”
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/25/ira-hyde-park-bombing-1982-attack-john-downey
This is kind of interesting, a new Snowden document showing how GCHQ/NSA use deceptive online tactics to damage reputations:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/25/new-snowden-doc-reveals-how-gchqnsa-use-internet-to-manipulate-deceive-and-destroy-reputations/
Peter Oborne on Syria and Saudi Arabia.
We can get rid of Assad or fight al-Qaeda, but we can’t do both
To get a proper picture of the Syrian conflict, the West needs to listen to its enemies
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/10662823/We-can-get-rid-of-Assad-or-fight-al-Qaeda-but-we-cant-do-both.html
26 Feb 2014
‘For the past three years, when seeking enlightenment about the Syrian crisis, I have often talked to Alastair Crooke, a former MI6 officer. Mr Crooke, who left government service a decade ago after a long career, now runs a think tank called Conflicts Forum, which maintains contact with organisations such as Hizbollah and governments such as Iran, when official contact has been broken off.
I have learnt to respect and trust Mr Crooke, who has the invaluable habit of being right. When the British and American governments both claimed that President Assad of Syria would fall within weeks, he told me this was wishful thinking. When Western governments hailed the Syrian rebels as a democratic movement of national liberation, he said: hang on a moment. At the heart of the rebellion, he pointed out, was a group of armed gangs funded by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, dedicated to the establishment of a militant Sunni caliphate across the Middle East. He uttered this warning right at the start of the Syrian conflict, and at last the penny is (ever so painfully) beginning to drop in Whitehall and Washington. ‘
[..]
‘The second message was that by far the greatest threat to stability in the Middle East is not Iran, as so often claimed, but Saudi Arabia. This may seem surprising: the Saudis remain among Britain’s closest allies, and only last week Prince Charles paid a happy visit to the kingdom. Yet they have been far and away the most important and deadly sponsor of global terrorism – a fact very well understood by all intelligence agencies, even if the British and American governments cannot bring themselves to admit it, let alone to come to terms with the consequences.
Several participants drew attention to the haunting parallel between Pakistan during the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, and Saudi Arabia today. Back then, the Pakistan intelligence services, urged on by the CIA, channelled money and arms to rebel forces. But they catastrophically failed to foresee that these very groups would create mayhem back home when the war ended.
This is the danger that faces Saudi Arabia today. The kingdom has been providing – indirectly – a vast amount of cash and resources to extremist groups advocating the takfiri mutation of Islam, an orientation that brands other Muslims as targets for killing. These takfiris deny the legitimacy of any state or secular power – including King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. A comparable problem is starting to emerge in Britain, where M15 is fretting about what British jihadists fighting in Syria might do on their return. This concern has created a potential conflict with the more gung-ho SIS, which has effectively been egging on these very same jihadists.’
Off topic. CameraOn on the back foot.
Cameron orders NI suspects review
UK PM David Cameron appoints independent judge to review Northern Ireland secret letters row by end of May
Mary (14h47)
Interesting link to Peter Oborne, thanks for posting.
A few years ago I had the priviledge of meeting Moazzam and spending some time in his company and fully agree with the above opinions that he is an amazingly gentle, peaceful and reconciling person.
That would have been so even if he had had the change to lead a ‘normal’ life.
In view of what he suffered through the ‘War on Terror’, those qualities are even more baffling. Ever since I met him, I remind myself of his positive attitude towards those who made him suffer whenever I am tempted to blow my top.
I now additionally admire his courage -even if it arguably could be called folly in his situation- in taking such risks to fight for what he feels is reight, necessary and his ‘duty’: transparency and redress for the other victims of the War on Terror, in particular those who were less lucky and are still imprisoned.
May he soon be released!
Mary,
You asked:-
“Courtenay Would you agree with John Locke who said ‘Where the law ends, tyranny begins’?”
I answer in this way:-
1. Locke’s formulation is accurate and works if one has a power structure that does abide by the rule of law.
2. The world in which we live is one in which the power of finance capital buys, church, state and most important organs of civil society.
Thus, in the real world Locke’s thoughts end up being idealism – while – today – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria remain – realism.
CB
Thanks Courtenay. You are as sage as ever. ATB
One key problem here is the British media (e.g. The Guardian), which just faithfully repeats the state’s line that Begg and three other persons were arrested on terrorism related charges, leaving uninformed readers clueless.
We really do need an alternative internet source for news information, even if for legal reasons that service cannot be located in the UK.
I realise MPs are busy. My MP responds to a lot of my correspondence with him but some questions, like why we have a US communications interception station at Menwith Hill when this has never been discussed in parliament I don’t get an answer. He happens also to be Moazzam Begg’s MP so I have sent him the following email:
“Dear Steve McCabe
While our police force is important it is beginning to look like we have become a police-state since the introduction of the anti-terrorism acts. These monstrous acts have got to go. I have met Moazzam Begg and a more quietly-spoken and peace-loving man I have yet to meet. But because our special services have been complicit in torture they make one of your constituents life intolerable. The people who should be in the dock are the special services.
I recently sent you an open letter I wrote to David Cameron about Shaker Aamer’s continued imprisonment. I want my country back to how it was. These anti-terrorism acts are like the Sus Laws of the eighties allowing the authorities to do things that would not be possible under normal conditions. There is no war on terror except the one created by Bush and Blair and now the country that I love has become a Kafkaesque nightmare.
Can you please inform me what you are doing on behalf of Moazzam?
Kind regards,
John Goss”
Presumably the police will have to release him if they can’t find any evidence that Begg received terrorist training in Syria, or that he helped terrorists overseas?
“Thus, in the real world Locke’s thoughts end up being idealism – while – today – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria remain – realism.”
nice reply to Mary’s query Courtenay
Thanks to u.s u.k. Nato..international Law is in tatters…And increasingly, it looks same with much of domestic law too…Especially in the u.s, they just do what they want regardless…And abuse Laws to save their scrawny wee necks… Hence the Moazzam Begg, Fabricated charges….
well done John firing off the Email… i hope you get a half sensible reply… though as Bena say, the own the NSM… to me its the only reason the get away with it all….as for alternative source’s of news and info Bena…Craig’s Blog very many links…provided by many posters.
Here is a good read on Moazzam Begg’s trumped up Arrest
“Moazzam Begg’s arrest smacks of politically-motivated vengeance and repression, and is likely to convince many British Muslims that they are under siege.
“His arrest is not only about Begg himself. His arrest, according to Cageprisoners, coincides with the publication of a new report on the UK involvement in ‘extraordinary renditions’ – including renditions to Syria, in the good old days when Assad was ‘our son of a bitch.’”
http://stopwar.org.uk/news/if-moazzam-begg-is-a-terrorist-then-my-mother-is-al-capone#.UxBmuuN_uqi
Ahh…effin typo’s…Rushing aboot…gotta dash ..Daughter moving into new home today.
“Posted Today, 04:53 AM
2’nd anti terrorist free to go home..
Cuban Hero Fernando Gonzalez Released from U.S. Prison”
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?s=482d8b61fc16548b314b6b0c455b72c5&showtopic=18242&page=6
Unbelievably John your MP appears to feed from no trough and is not a member of the Friends of Israel lobby. He is a rare bird indeed.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=10377
The only mention of Israel in his appearances is this question to the man of Straw in 2004.
Mr Stephen McCabe (Birmingham, Hall Green, Labour)
How concerned is my right hon. Friend about the recent reported comment of the Palestinian Prime Minister that elements in the Iranian regime seek to undermine his leadership, and are directly responsible for the sponsoring of terrorism in Israel? What impact will that have on our relations with Iran?
Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 27 January 2004, c147)
Mr Jack Straw (Foreign Secretary; Blackburn, Labour)
I have not read those remarks, but a constant item for discussion with the Iranians is our concern about their support for rejectionist terrorist groups working in Israel and the occupied territories, and causing mayhem and death on a significant scale. Another is our profound concern that the Iranians’ so-called policy on Israel’s right to exist—or, in this case, not to exist—runs counter to United Nations resolutions, and to any prospect of a serious peace process getting on the move there. That is an important issue. We believe that Iran needs to resolve it, and cease to support the terrorists.
!!
The good Ray McGovern again, speaking here.
Friends,
National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship”
I will be speaking at the upcoming National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship” on March 7 (next Friday) at the National Press Club, which is located at 529 14th ST NW in Washington, DC.. The conference will be taking place on the 13th floor. It is open to the public. See: http://natsummit.org/
If interested in attending, see “register” on the website.
Other speakers include:
Philip Giraldi, Ray McGovern, Paul Pillar, Michael Scheuer, James J. David, M.E. “Spike” Bowman, Karen U. Kwiatkowski, Paul Findley, Orval Hansen, Jeffrey Blankfort, Allan C. Brownfeld, Delinda Hanley, Scott McConnell, Janet McMahon, Mark Perry, Gareth Porter, John B. Quigley, Stephen M. Walt, Geoffrey Wawro, Philip Weiss, Ernest Gallo, Justin Raimondo, Grant F. Smith, and Alison Weir.
For the backgrounds of the speakers, see: http://natsummit.org/speakers.htm
The topic for my presentation will be “The Neocons who brought us the Iraq War,” and I will be participating on a panel titled “Does the Israel Lobby Foment Middle East Wars?” I am told that my presentation will begin at 10:15 am.
The organizers of the National Summit are: The Council for the National Interest, The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and If Americans Knew.
Information on the National Summit is also on Facebook
Best,
Stephen Sniegoski
http://home.comcast.net/~transparentcabal/
“Presumably the police will have to release him if they can’t find any evidence that Begg received terrorist training in Syria, or that he helped terrorists overseas?”
That’s what we would have expected, Abe Rene, before the anti-terrorism acts. Since then, Babar Ahmed and Talha Ahsan have not seen freedom and not been tried for any offence for 9.5 years and 7.5 years respectively. Instead, to get them to confess to a crime they have not committed they have been extradited to the US and tortured in Supermax torture-chanbers.
Tomorrow in Birmingham. It makes a change to have a national protest on one’s doorstep.
Release Moazzam Begg National Protest
Saturday 1 March: 12 Noon
Outside West Midlands Police Headquarters
Lloyd House, Colmore Circus Queensway
Birmingham B4 6NQ