Iran's Gaza role

Published on Thursday 8 January 2009 20:59

Throughout much of the past 20 years, the UK families of Lockerbie victims have been aware of views put forward by certain elements of the Israeli secret service, Mossad.

Whereas the information available from those sources has at times been immensely useful and appreciated, it has also, of course, been presented from an Israeli angle.

From long before the accusations against Libya became known this Mossad information has supported the view that Iran was the instigator of the Lockerbie bombing (revenge for the loss of an Iranian airbus carrying 290 pilgrims to an American missile six months before) and that she exploited the technology of a group known as the PFLP-GC, led by Ahmed Jibril in Syria, to carry out the massacre. Mossad never supported the view that Ali Abdal Baset al-Megrahi was in any way involved. Interestingly, some voices of the CIA also supported these views.

On Wednesday, for the first time in the present conflict in Gaza, rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, allegedly by PFLP-GC members.

Hamas in Gaza was armed and indoctrinated by Iran. The leaders of Hezbollah in Lebanon were inspired by the Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organised by a contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

It seems Israel is confronted by those whose survival was ensured by the duplicity of the United States in preparing for the First Gulf war by exonerating Iran and Syria over Lockerbie.

Since 1992 they will have felt safe in the knowledge that the West had decided to blame others for the atrocity they had brought upon Lockerbie.

Who knows what contribution this pretence may also have made to the intelligence failures that allowed 9/11 to escape detection and prevention?

(DR) JIM SWIRE

Calf Lane, Chipping Campden

Gloucestershire