The Goben Memorandum?
Much has been made of a secret document that had been apparently seen by the Prosecution team during the original trial in 2000, but not revealed to the Defence team at Zeist.
In the weeks following the SCCRC decision to recommend the case for appeal, speculation, and indeed some quite definite assertions were made in the media as to this, or perhaps another document that was not revealed to the defence team, and this document's origin. It was assumed to be from either the US government itself, or one of it's agencies. However, the Defence team, led by Maggie Scott revealed at Megrahi's procedural hearing in October that the document they demanded was not from the US, nor any of it's agencies.
Since then, given the complex issues surrounding the case and plethora of foreign governments who have had an interest in the investigation, there has been little speculation from where the document might originate.
Is this the document Megrahi's Defence team are waiting for?
Private Eye magazine reported in 2001: Soon after FBI agent Edward Marshman had finished giving his evidence at Zeist in 2000, the trial was subject to a long delay.
The Prosecution team explained that they had had notice from a foreign government that more information might be available that would be relevent to the trial. The foreign government, it was revealed later, was Syria and the information was known as the Gober Memorandum, of which the full text was now in the hands of the government in Damascus.
Goben was the Palestinian "professor" based in Yugoslavia, who was said to have played a crucial part in the PLFP-GC/Iranian plot to blow up an American aircraft in revenge for the Iranian airbus wrecklessly shot from the skies by gung-ho USS captain over the Persian Gulf in July 1988.
On his death bed, it was rumoured that Goben has set out the entire 'Autumn Leaves' conspiracy. (The Autumn Leaves operation was carried out in Neuss, Germany in autumn 1988 by the BKA in which several arrests were made including Khreesat and Dalkamoni, and Toshiba radio's converted to bombs were confiscated)
He had since died and, after a few more weeks' delay to the trial at Zeist, the Syrian government made it clear that if there was any such memorandum, they had no intention of releasing it.
Articles:
The Goben Memorandum - http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,509150,00.html
FBI agent Edward Marshman at Zeist- http://tiny.cc/lFRSC
Megrahi Defence call for secret document - http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL11531443.html
Operation Autumn Leaves - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1026312.stm
In the weeks following the SCCRC decision to recommend the case for appeal, speculation, and indeed some quite definite assertions were made in the media as to this, or perhaps another document that was not revealed to the defence team, and this document's origin. It was assumed to be from either the US government itself, or one of it's agencies. However, the Defence team, led by Maggie Scott revealed at Megrahi's procedural hearing in October that the document they demanded was not from the US, nor any of it's agencies.
Since then, given the complex issues surrounding the case and plethora of foreign governments who have had an interest in the investigation, there has been little speculation from where the document might originate.
Is this the document Megrahi's Defence team are waiting for?
Private Eye magazine reported in 2001: Soon after FBI agent Edward Marshman had finished giving his evidence at Zeist in 2000, the trial was subject to a long delay.
The Prosecution team explained that they had had notice from a foreign government that more information might be available that would be relevent to the trial. The foreign government, it was revealed later, was Syria and the information was known as the Gober Memorandum, of which the full text was now in the hands of the government in Damascus.
Goben was the Palestinian "professor" based in Yugoslavia, who was said to have played a crucial part in the PLFP-GC/Iranian plot to blow up an American aircraft in revenge for the Iranian airbus wrecklessly shot from the skies by gung-ho USS captain over the Persian Gulf in July 1988.
On his death bed, it was rumoured that Goben has set out the entire 'Autumn Leaves' conspiracy. (The Autumn Leaves operation was carried out in Neuss, Germany in autumn 1988 by the BKA in which several arrests were made including Khreesat and Dalkamoni, and Toshiba radio's converted to bombs were confiscated)
He had since died and, after a few more weeks' delay to the trial at Zeist, the Syrian government made it clear that if there was any such memorandum, they had no intention of releasing it.
Articles:
The Goben Memorandum - http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,509150,00.html
FBI agent Edward Marshman at Zeist- http://tiny.cc/lFRSC
Megrahi Defence call for secret document - http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL11531443.html
Operation Autumn Leaves - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1026312.stm
Labels: 103, Autumn Leaves, Goben, Lockerbie, Syria
posted by Eddie at
3:04 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home