Palestinian Bombing Cover-Up in the UK Guardian 24th October 2000. Secrecy 'could clear Palestinians of Embassy bombing' The Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office have been accused of wrongly throwing a blanket of secrecy over information which could clear two Palestinians of the 1994 car bombing of London's Israeli Embassy. Six years after the blast, no-one is any the wiser as to which terrorist organisation was behind it - or even the type of explosive used, the Court of Appeal heard. Michael Mansfield QC, for Jawad Botmeh, 31, and Samar Alami, 33, said revelations by former MI5 officer David Shayler since their trial had triggered requests by their lawyers for answers to the many questions raised by the case. But Home Secretary Jack Straw signed "public interest immunity" (pii) certificates, in the interests of national security, effectively banning any such disclosures. "Since the convictions, the appellants and their representatives have been provided with no more material at all," Mr Mansfield told Lord Justice Rose, Mr Justice Hooper and Mr Justice Goldring. Botmeh, a businessman, and banker's daughter Alami, both British residents, were jailed for 20 years in December 1996 for conspiracy to cause explosions in the UK. The pair, graduates from English universities, were convicted on the basis that they were part of a UK-based extremist terrorist cell which planned to sabotage the Middle East peace process. Two massive car bombs rocked the Israeli embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens and the offices of a Jewish charity in north London. No-one was killed. The two admitted experimenting in an amateurish way with a certain type of explosive in order to provide technical information for the protection of their home communities in Palestine. But they denied involvement in the bombings - which they said were counter-productive - or any terrorist organisation. They have been granted leave to appeal on the grounds that information covered by the pii certificates could have affected the outcome of the trial. Their lawyers claim that the non-disclosure breached the Human Rights Act and Article 6 of the European Human Rights Convention entitling everyone to a fair trial. Mr Shayler has claimed that MI5 was warned in advance that an attack on the embassy was imminent, but the information was shelved and nothing was done. He also referred to suspicions that the Israelis themselves carried out the bombings to provoke the UK into tightening its security. Defence lawyers argue that Shayler's claims are the tip of the iceberg of possibly valuable information which ought to be disclosed in the interests of justice.
