http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,1648594,00.html

Legal gag on Bush-Blair war row

Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday November 23, 2005
The Guardian

The attorney general last night threatened newspapers with the Official
Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to
a dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of military
operations in Iraq.

It is believed to be the first time the Blair government has threatened
newspapers in this way. Though it has obtained court injunctions against
newspapers, the government has never prosecuted editors for publishing the
contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the
run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, last night referred editors to
newspaper reports yesterday that described the contents of a memo purporting
to be at the centre of charges against two men under the secrets act.

Under the front-page headline "Bush plot to bomb his ally", the Daily Mirror
reported that the US president last year planned to attack the Arabic
television station al-Jazeera, which has its headquarters in Doha, the
capital of Qatar, where US and British bombers were based.

Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, said last night: "We made No 10
fully aware of the intention to publish and were given 'no comment'
officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours later we are threatened under
section 5 [of the secrets act]".

Under section 5 it is an offence to have come into the possession of
government information, or a document from a crown servant, if that person
discloses it without lawful authority. The prosecution has to prove the
disclosure was damaging.

The Mirror said the memo turned up in May last year at the constituency office
of the former Labour MP for Northampton South, Tony Clarke. Last week, Leo
O'Connor, a former researcher for Mr Clarke, was charged with receiving a
document under section 5 of the act. David Keogh, a former Foreign Office
official seconded to the Cabinet Office, was charged last week with making a
"damaging disclosure of a document relating to international relations". Mr
Keogh, 49, is accused of sending the document to Mr O'Connor, 42, between
April 16 and May 28 2004.

Mr Clarke said yesterday that Mr O'Connor "did the right thing" by drawing the
document to his attention. Mr Clarke, an anti-war MP who lost his seat at the
last election, returned the document to the government. "As well as an MP, I
am a special constable," he said.

Both men were released on police bail last Thursday to appear at Bow Street
magistrates court on November 29. When they were charged, newspapers reported
that the memo contained a transcript of a discussion between Mr Blair and Mr
Bush.

The conversation was understood to have taken place during a meeting in the
US. It is believed to reveal that Mr Blair disagreed with Mr Bush about
aspects of the Iraq war. There was widespread comment at the time that the
British government was angry about US military tactics there, particularly in
the city of Falluja.

Charges under the secrets act have to have the consent of the
attorney-general. His intervention yesterday suggests that the prosecution
plans to ask the judge to hold part, if not all of the trial, in camera, with
the public and press excluded.

-------------------------------------------------

 http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1648986,00.html

Bush claim revives al-Jazeera bombing fears

John Plunkett
Wednesday November 23, 2005

Claims that George Bush planned to bomb the Arabic TV news station al-Jazeera
have fuelled concerns that an attack on the broadcaster's Baghdad offices
during the war on Iraq was deliberate.

An international journalists group today demanded "complete disclosure" from
the British and American governments over reports that the US considered
attacking the al-Jazeera HQ in the Qatar capital, Doha.

The International Federation of Journalists claimed that 16 journalists and
other media staff have died at the hands of US forces in Iraq, adding that
the deaths had not been properly investigated.

Al-Jazeera cameraman Tarek Ayoub was killed when the station's Baghdad office
was bombed during a US air raid on April 8 2003. On the same day a US tank
shelled the Palestine hotel in the Iraqi capital, killing two other
journalists.

"Reports that George Bush and Tony Blair discussed a plan to bomb al-Jazeera
reinforce concerns that the US attack in Baghdad on April 8 [2003] was
deliberate targeting of the media," said Aidan White, the general secretary
of the IFJ.

"If that is the case then the US is guilty of a gross violation of
international humanitarian law and on the face of it the murder of an
innocent journalist.

"The evidence is stacking up to suggest that the US decided to take out
al-Jazeera in Baghdad, as a warning not only to them but to other media about
their coverage. If true, it is an absolute scandal that the US administration
can regard the staff of al-Jazeera as a bunch of terrorists and a legitimate
target."

Under the front page headline "Bush plots to bomb his ally", the Daily Mirror
claimed yesterday a leaked memo revealed that the US president last year
discussed plans to attack al-Jazeera's Qatar HQ with Mr Blair.

The Baghdad bombing of 2003 was the second attack by American forces on the
offices of al-Jazeera. In 2001 the station's Kabul office was hit by two
"smart" bombs in an attack that almost wrecked the nearby BBC bureau.

Al-Jazeera said it had given the location of its offices in both Kabul and
Baghdad to the authorities in Washington, but it had still been attacked.

"We have been campaigning vigorously for an independent inquiry into what
happened in Baghdad on April 8 [2003]. Now is the time for the US to take
responsibility and tell the world what actually happened," said Mr White.

"The public has a right to know whether politicians would seriously consider
killing journalists in order to stifle independent or critical voices. In
this particular case the family, friends and colleagues of the victim also
have a right to justice.

"Incidents in which journalists are killed by combatants in conflict zones
have to be properly and independently investigated. Investigations that are
carried out by the military do not consider the full extent of the evidence
and in almost every single case lead to the exoneration of the military
involved. At best there is a shrug of regret about the consequences."

Both the US and UK governments declined to comment on the Mirror's
allegations.

"We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response," a White
House official said.

A Downing Street spokesman added: "We have got nothing to say about this
story. We don't comment on leaked documents."

The attorney general last night threatened newspapers with the Official
Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to
a dispute between Mr Blair and Mr Bush over the conduct of military
operations in Iraq.

· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email  editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or
phone 020 7239 9857

· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for
publication".