Two Britons Are Accused of Leaking Bush, Blair Memo

Source: Bloomberg

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Two British men were accused by prosecutors of potentially endangering troops in Iraq by leaking a secret memo about a 2004 meeting between U.S. President George Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.

David Keogh, 50, a former Cabinet communications officer, and political researcher Leo O'Connor, 44, are on trial in London for allegedly breaching Britain's Official Secrets Act. Prosecutor David Perry QC today claimed that the two men conspired to push the memo into the public domain after Keogh intercepted a confidential fax from Washington to London.

``That document contained information about this nation's defense interests and this nation's international relations,'' Perry told the Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey. ``That's what this case is about.''

...

The leaked record of their discussions was written by Blair's private secretary for foreign affairs at the time, Matthew Rycroft, and was stamped both ``personal'' and ``secret,'' Perry said. It was intended to be circulated only on a ``need to know'' basis among senior officials at organizations such as the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence and the United Nations, the prosecutor claimed.


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a9iuhttTfZE0&refer=uk

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo

Al Jazeera bombing memo

The Al Jazeera bombing memo is an unpublished memorandum made within the British government which purports to be the minutes of a discussion between United States President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Daily Mirror published a story on its front page on 22 November 2005 claiming that the memo quotes Bush speculating about a U.S. bombing raid on Al Jazeera world headquarters in the Qatari capital Doha and other locations. The story claims that Blair persuaded Bush to take no action.

Both Keogh and O'Connor deny the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Most of the actual contents of the memo are being presented to the jury in private, to preserve their confidentiality. Perry today told the court that the April 16, 2004, meeting between Bush, Blair and other senior officials occurred at a key juncture of the Iraqi conflict, two months before the transfer of authority from coalition forces to a domestic governing council.

Personal, Secret

The leaked record of their discussions was written by Blair's private secretary for foreign affairs at the time, Matthew Rycroft, and was stamped both ``personal'' and ``secret,'' Perry said. It was intended to be circulated only on a ``need to know'' basis among senior officials at organizations such as the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence and the United Nations, the prosecutor claimed.

Instead, Keogh made a copy of the fax while working alone at the Cabinet communications office, which frequently receives sensitive government and intelligence documents. He then gave it to O'Connor, who slipped it into the parliamentary papers of his boss, former Labour Member of Parliament Anthony Clarke.

Clarke alerted police about the memo after discovering it.

This wasn't exactly an intrinsically illegal act, like revealing the identity of a covert intelligence officer.

It revealed no real secret, just the plotting of war criminals.

Katherine Gun's prosecution seemed to be stopped because her defence was going to demand the production of documents showing she was attempting to stop a worse crime:



But in theory, there is no public interest defence:



On edit: perhaps it's timing that's important. Gun did her leak before the war started - so she could have said she was acting to prevent something. The present case, however, is about a leak after the other 'crime'. That, then would fall under 'public interest', rather than 'prevention of crime'.

Britons leaked "sensitive" Iraq memo - prosecutors
18 Apr 2007 17:45:50 GMT
Source: Reuters
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Background
Iraq in turmoil
More By Luke Baker

LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - The trial began in London on Wednesday of two men accused of leaking a secret memo on the Iraq war in which U.S. President George W. Bush is reported to have threatened to bomb Arabic TV station Al Jazeera.

Prosecutors told the court the Britons, a civil servant and a political researcher, leaked the memo detailing "highly sensitive" talks between Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House on April 16, 2004, because they opposed the Iraq war.

British newspaper the Daily Mirror reported in November 2005 that the memo quoted Bush as saying he wanted to bomb Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite broadcaster whose coverage of Iraq's insurgency had angered U.S. officials.

The Mirror quoted an unnamed government official as suggesting Bush's threat was a joke, but cited another unidentified source as saying Bush was serious. It said Blair had talked Bush out of the idea.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L18355316.htm

represents the worst.

An Heroic act which should not be prosecuted!

who even now seem to be under the delusion that if everything can be 'hushed up' no one will notice what a complete disaster the invasion of Iraq has been. It would be laughable where the decisions not so tragic. Keogh and Perry's true 'offence' is for revealing Blair & Co as the shifty, mendacious, incompetent bastards that they really are.