US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally intervened to suppress evidence of CIA collusion in the torture of a British resident, the high court in London heard on Wednesday.
The dramatic turn emerged as lawyers for Binyam Mohamed, the UK resident abused in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco and Guantanamo Bay, joined by lawyers for various media groups, asked the court to order the disclosure of CIA material.
It consists of a seven-paragraph summary of what the CIA knew, and what it told MI5 (the British security service) and MI6 (the secret intelligence service), about the treatment of Mohamed. Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones, the judges hearing the case, have said that the summary contains nothing that could possibly be described as “highly sensitive classified US intelligence.”
CHALLENGED
However, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, has repeatedly told the court that the US would stop sharing intelligence with the UK if the CIA material was published. The judges, as well as lawyers for Mohamed and the media, have challenged that assertion.
“Is it remotely credible that [the administration of US President Barack Obama] would stop intelligence-sharing?” Thomas asked yesterday, referring to Obama’s recent decision to publish CIA torture documents in the US. “The judgment of the foreign secretary is the key,” he added.
The court has heard how the British Foreign Office and Miliband have solicited US help in keeping the CIA material secret. Yesterday, it heard how Miliband met Clinton in Washington on 12 May this year.
In a written statement proposing a gagging order, Miliband told the court that she “indicated” that the disclosure of CIA evidence “would affect intelligence sharing.”
Pressed repeatedly by the judges on the claim yesterday, Karen Steyn, Miliband’s counsel, insisted that Clinton was indeed saying that if the seven-paragraph summary of CIA material was disclosed, the US would “reassess” its intelligence relationship with the UK, a move that “would put lives at risk.”
‘LACK CREDIBILITY’
Guy Vassall-Adams, for the media groups, told the court earlier that Miliband’s claims — including his account of his conversation with Clinton — “lack any credibility.”
Miliband has insisted that any intelligence provided to the UK from a foreign government must always remain secret.
“The ultimate decision as to where the balance of the public interest lies is a matter for the courts and not for the executive - and any [foreign] country providing intelligence to the UK which understood otherwise would be labouring under a fundamental misapprehension,” Vassall-Adams said.
Thomas intervened, saying that the absolute control over intelligence material the UK and US governments were claiming was not based on any legal principle but was “the exercise of naked political power.”
‘WRONGDOING’
A letter recently sent by the CIA to the high court “merely demonstrated that the CIA would like the court to withhold from the public ... findings about CIA wrongdoing,” he said.
The CIA letter was couched in vague language and Miliband’s interpretation of the US claims was completely unreasonable, lawyers for Mohamed and the media said.
The court was also provided with a 35-page MI5 document — of which all but three are blacked out — relating to its instructions to one of its officers in 2002.
Nevertheless, the document shows that the officer, known in the case as Witness B, was sent a list of detailed questions to ask Mohamed, including about his acquaintances in London. Mohamed had been arrested in Karachi trying to return to Britain on an false passport.
The high court judges, who have described the case as “troublesome,” reserved their ruling on whether the CIA material should be published.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s