Why I believe sinking of Belgrano made MI5 murder my crusading aunt:

July 20, 2013

It is nearly 30 years since my aunt, Hilda Murrell, was abducted, beaten, stabbed and left to die  in a copse in the countryside outside Shrewsbury. Her murder has become a cause celebre, not just because of the shocking manner of her death, but because of the unanswered questions that refuse to go away. Hilda, a 78-year-old rose-grower and anti-nuclear environmentalist, was a keeper of dangerous secrets. Involved in top-secret work at Bletchley Park in the Second World War, she was an independent, well-connected and informed opponent of Britain’s plans for nuclear power and weapons. Because of her close association with me, she was suspected of having sensitive information about the sinking of the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano in the 1982 Falklands War. Someone wanted her silenced for this, or was it for even  more politically damaging information?

The past three decades have seen a rising tide of  evidence that the true perpetrators were the British security services. Meanwhile a man is languishing in jail, wrongly convicted of a crime he did not commit. Hilda was my close friend and mentor and I was her next of kin. I was a commander in Royal Navy Intelligence at the heart of the Falklands War, thus I fear it is more than  possible that having me as her nephew sealed her fate. – ‘They’ve rubbed her out.’ It was my immediate thought, an involuntary conviction. At 2pm on Saturday, March 24, 1984, West Mercia Police rang to say they had found an old woman’s body. Hilda had been missing since the Wednesday. Her mutilated corpse had been discovered in a poplar copse six miles outside Shrewsbury, some 500 yards from her crashed Renault 5.

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NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts

October 24, 2013

The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its “customer” departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their “Rolodexes” so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems. The document notes that one unnamed US official handed over 200 numbers, including those of the 35 world leaders, none of whom is named. These were immediately “tasked” for monitoring by the NSA. The revelation is set to add to mounting diplomatic tensions between the US and its allies, after the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday accused the US of tapping her mobile phone. After Merkel’s allegations became public, White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement that said the US “is not monitoring and will not monitor” the German chancellor’s communications. But that failed to quell the row, as officials in Berlin quickly pointed out that the US did not deny monitoring the phone in the past.

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Syrian village is ‘liberated’ by rebels… who then forced Christians to convert to Islam

September 9, 2013

Terrified Christians claim Syrian rebels ordered them to convert to Islam on pain of death when they ‘liberated’ their ancient village. Opposition forces, including fighters linked to Al Qaeda, gained temporary control of the Christian village of Maaloula after fighting with regime forces. The reports have reignited fears about western support for the rebel groups, which are increasingly being infiltrated by Islamic extremists.

One Maaloula resident said the rebels, many of whom had beards and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great), attacked Christian homes and churches shortly after moving into the village. ‘They shot and killed people. I heard gunshots and then I saw three bodies lying in the middle of a street in the old quarters of the village. Where is President Obama to see what has befallen us?

Another Christian resident said: ‘I saw the militants grabbing five villagers and threatening them and saying, “Either you convert to Islam, or you will be beheaded”.’ Another said one church had been torched, and gunmen stormed into two other churches and robbed them. The beautiful mountain village, 25 miles from Damascus, is one of the few places in the world where residents still use the ancient language of Aramaic, which was spoken by Jesus and his disciples.

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Putin says US should present Syria chemical weapons evidence to UN Security Council

August 31, 2013

“The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.”

Kellogg Briand Pact 1928

David Cameron makes case for military action

August 29, 2013

Prime Minister David Cameron has put his case for military action against Syria to British MPs, but has conceded intelligence that the regime used chemical weapons is not “100% certain”. He told an emergency debate that UK intelligence chiefs believed it “highly likely” the Syrian government was responsible for the 21 August attack. But he said MPs must make a judgement call ahead of a Commons vote. The UK could launch strikes without UN backing, according to legal advice.

“In the end there is no 100% certainty about who is responsible.” – David Cameron

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David Miranda Heathrow detention: No 10 ‘kept abreast of operation’

August 20, 2013

No 10 was “kept abreast” of the decision to detain David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, a spokesman has said. Mr Miranda was held at Heathrow for nine hours on Sunday, while in transit from Germany to Brazil. He has launched a legal challenge over the police’s use of anti-terror laws to detain him and seize his property. But Home Secretary Theresa May said the police must act if someone had “highly sensitive stolen information”.

Mr Miranda, a 28-year-old Brazilian national, was held at Heathrow on his way from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro where he lives with Mr Greenwald. The Guardian said he had been carrying “journalistic materials” but was not an employee of the newspaper. Mr Greenwald has broken most of the stories about state surveillance based on the leaks from fugitive Edward Snowden, who used to work at the US National Security Agency. Mr Miranda said he was held in a room and questioned by six agents about his “entire life”. They confiscated his laptop, an additional hard drive, two memory sticks, a mobile phone, a smart watch and a video games console, his lawyers said.

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BBC undercover reporter arrested

A BBC reporter was arrested after going undercover in a bid to investigate claims of institutional racism in the police force.

The journalist, believed to have been working on a BBC documentary, had undergone training and was working as a probationary constable for Greater Manchester Police.

But the force hit out at the corporation after the officer, working in the force’s Stockport Division, was arrested on suspicion of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception. The BBC said any pay he had received had been kept in a separate account and was to be returned to the force at the end of the investigation.

The journalist, believed to be in his 20s, had undergone training and had been “operational”, working as a probationary constable, for about a month. In doing so, the force said the reporter had broken an oath he had taken on joining the force and may have breached people’s human rights.

Chief Constable Michael Todd said: “If true, we deplore this tactic, which would appear to be an outrageous waste of public funds used to train, equip and pay this individual. It has also deprived a genuine recruit of the opportunity to join the service.”

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Obama’s crackdown views leaks as aiding enemies of U.S.

June 20, 2013

“It doesn’t mean they’re listening to every call. It means they’re storing every call and have the capacity to listen to them at any time.” ~Glenn Greenwald (The Guardian)

– UPDATE  –

Prism leak indicates real-time surveillance, says paper

July 1, 2013

Fresh details about Prism have emerged after the Washington Post published four more leaked slides detailing the US internet surveillance programme. The paper says the documents indicate the FBI has installed equipment on the property of certain US-based tech firms and passes on retrieved data to the CIA and National Security Agency (NSA). It says in some cases the NSA may be provided with live notifications about a target’s activity in “real time”. Critics have raised privacy concerns. “Prism is the most egregious example of NSA overreach that we’ve seen in the last 10 years or so,” Eric King, head of research at London-based campaign group Privacy International, told the BBC.

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