-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Revealed: Cook misled public over Libya plot Nicholas Rufford A TOP-SECRET report linking MI6 with a failed attempt to assassinate Colonel Gadaffi appeared on an American internet site yesterday, refuting Robin Cook's claim that British intelligence was not involved. The document, marked "UK Eyes Alpha", details contacts between MI6 and a group of Middle Eastern plotters who tried unsuccessfully to blow up Gadaffi's motorcade. It reveals that British intelligence knew of the 1996 assassination attempt at least two months in advance. A member of the rebel group gave detailed intelligence to his MI6 handler in anticipation of help from Britain. The foreign secretary, who said 18 months ago that MI6 had "no interest" in any such plot, faced calls for a parliamentary inquiry. The report, coded CX95/ 53452, was passed to senior Foreign Office officials. It revealed when and where the assassination attempt was due and said that at least 250 British-made weapons were distributed among the plotters. Allegations of a plot to kill Gadaffi, said to involve MI6, emerged 18 months ago. British newspapers were prevented from publishing the claims, but details later appeared in The New York Times. Arab newspapers reported that the Libyan leader had only narrowly survived. A number of his bodyguards and would-be assassins died. Cook described claims of British involvement as "pure fantasy" and insisted that MI6 had no interest in such a plot. Interviewed at the time on BBC's Breakfast with Frost, the current affairs programme, he said: "I am perfectly satisfied that the SIS [Secret Intelligence Service] never put forward any such proposal for an assassination attempt, nor have I seen anything in the 15 months that I have been in the job which would suggest that the SIS has had any interest, any role or any experience over the recent decades of any such escapade." Later in the interview he appeared to equivocate when he said that he was "fairly clear" that there had never been any MI6 involvement. There will be speculation, that the intelligence services were out of control, or that Cook was not told the full facts by Foreign Office staff. It is embarrassing because Cook last year restored full diplomatic ties with Gadaffi and is preparing to welcome its ambassador. Francis Maude, the shadow foreign secretary, called for an immediate investigation: "Did Cook conceal the truth? Was it kept from him, or did he ignore it?" he said. The revelations increase the pressure on Cook, whose claims to an ethical foreign policy were dealt a serious blow last week. A cross-party group of MPs said there had been no radical shift since the Conservatives' rule. A Foreign Office spokesman defended Cook's conduct. "The foreign secretary did not mislead the public," he said. "At the time of the Frost interview he was not asked if MI6 knew about the plot. He was asked whether MI6 instigated it or was involved in it. Those were the allegations around at the time." CX reports summarise MI6's key intelligence findings and are circulated to the prime minister, the Cabinet Office and the Joint Intelligence Committee, which guides Britain's national security strategy. The four-page CX document, published on the Yahoo! website, carries a coded header sheet that appears to confirm its authenticity. Its title is "Libya: plans to overthrow Gadaffi in early 1996 are well advanced". It reveals that in November 1995 links were established between a plotter and "HMG" - Her Majesty's government. The source, said to be previously untried, gave details of "plans in which he was involved to overthrow Colonel Gadaffi". He said "other plotters were aware of his contact with HMG, but did not entirely approve of it". The text published on the web is blanked out at one point and the words "removed to protect Tunworth's identity" inserted. Tunworth is the code-name assigned to the source. The report says: "The coup was scheduled to start at around the time of the next General People's Congress on February 14, 1996. Coup will start with unrest in Tripoli, Misratah and Benghazi. [Previous] attempt to assassinate Gadaffi in August [1995] thwarted by security police." The report lists Libyan installations that would be attacked and describes supporters in Libya's principal cities and their occupations. The start of the coup would be signalled through coded messages on television and radio. The source told his MI6 handler that the "plotters would have cars similar to those in Gadaffi's security entourage with fake security number plates. They would infiltrate themselves into the entourage in order to kill or arrest Gadaffi. "One group of military personnel were being trained in the desert area near Kufra for the role of attacking Gadaffi and his entourage," the report says. "The aim was to attack Gadaffi after the GPC [General People's Congress], but before he had returned to Sirte. One officer and 20 men were being trained for this attack." The source disclosed contacts between the plotters and the Algerian and Tunisian governments, and with Islamic terrorists, described as "Libyan veterans who served in Afghanistan and Libyan students". The report was passed to Sir John Coles, then the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, as well as to GCHQ, the government listening station, MI5 and the Ministry of Defence. It was also relayed to British stations in Tunis, Cairo and Washington. The claim that MI6 was involved in trying to kill Gadaffi was first made in August 1998 by David Shayler, the renegade MI5 officer. He said he had learnt of the plot from his opposite number in the SIS, an operative code named PT16B. Shayler said he was told that MI6 had paid about £100,000 in instalments to Tunworth to help purchase Jeeps and weapons. Later, at a meeting in room 470 of Thames House, MI5's London headquarters, Shayler said he was told by PT16B that the attack had failed. Accounts published in Arab newspapers confirmed that an assassination attempt had taken place. Al-Hayat, the London- based Arab newspaper, reported that rebels had attacked Gadaffi's motorcade near the city of Sirte in February 1996. Several bystanders were said to have been killed, leading to accusations by Shayler that the British government had colluded in the deaths of innocent civilians. Shayler's claims were vigorously denied by the Foreign Office. Gadaffi claimed he had proof of the plot. "Britain was behind the campaign of assassination. There is evidence and when the time comes we will bring it forward," he said. The leaking of the CX report raises wider questions about the control of secret government material which finds its way onto the internet. The Foreign Office faced a similar crisis last year when the names of more than 100 MI6 officers appeared on a website published by Executive Intelligence Review, an American security publication. The leak was blamed on Richard Tomlinson, the sacked MI6 officer. The Sunday Times has complied with a request by Rear-Admiral Nick Wilkinson, secretary of the government's defence, press and broadcasting advisory committee, not to print the address of the website on which the CX report is published. The text published on the web is blanked out at one point and the words "removed to protect Tunworth's identity" inserted. Tunworth is the code-name assigned to the source. The report says: "The coup was scheduled to start at around the time of the next General People's Congress on February 14, 1996. Coup will start with unrest in Tripoli, Misratah and Benghazi. [Previous] attempt to assassinate Gadaffi in August [1995] thwarted by security police." The report lists Libyan installations that would be attacked and describes supporters in Libya's principal cities and their occupations. The start of the coup would be signalled through coded messages on television and radio. The source told his MI6 handler that the "plotters would have cars similar to those in Gadaffi's security entourage with fake security number plates. They would infiltrate themselves into the entourage in order to kill or arrest Gadaffi. "One group of military personnel were being trained in the desert area near Kufra for the role of attacking Gadaffi and his entourage," the report says. "The aim was to attack Gadaffi after the GPC [General People's Congress], but before he had returned to Sirte. One officer and 20 men were being trained for this attack." The source disclosed contacts between the plotters and the Algerian and Tunisian governments, and with Islamic terrorists, described as "Libyan veterans who served in Afghanistan and Libyan students". The report was passed to Sir John Coles, then the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, as well as to GCHQ, the government listening station, MI5, the domestic security service, and the Ministry of Defence. It was also relayed to British stations in Tunis, Cairo and Washington. The claim that MI6 was involved in trying to kill Gadaffi was first made in August 1998 by David Shayler, the renegade MI5 officer. He said he had learnt of the plot from his opposite number in the SIS, an operative code named PT16B. Shayler said he was told that MI6 had paid about £100,000 in instalments to Tunworth to help purchase Jeeps and weapons. Later, at a meeting in room 470 of Thames House, MI5's London headquarters, Shayler said he was told by PT16B that the attack had failed. Accounts published in Arab newspapers confirmed that an assassination attempt had taken place. Al-Hayat, the London- based Arab newspaper, reported that rebels had attacked Gadaffi's motorcade near the city of Sirte in February 1996. Several bystanders were said to have been killed, leading to accusations by Shayler that the British government had colluded in the deaths of innocent civilians. Shayler's claims were vigorously denied by the Foreign Office. Gadaffi claimed he had proof of the plot. "Britain was behind the campaign of assassination. There is evidence and when the time comes we will bring it forward," he said. The leaking of the CX report raises wider questions about the control of secret government material which finds its way onto the internet. The Foreign Office faced a similar crisis last year when the names of more than 100 MI6 officers appeared on a website published by Executive Intelligence Review, an American security publication. The leak was blamed on Richard Tomlinson, the sacked MI6 officer. The Sunday Times has complied with a request by Rear-Admiral Nick Wilkinson, secretary of the government's defence, press and broadcasting advisory committee, not to print the address of the website on which the CX report is published. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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