Al Jazeera: From Network, to a Bush Target, to Courts

By ALAN COWELL
Published: January 11, 2006
LONDON, Jan. 10 - A British civil servant and a former researcher appeared in court on Tuesday in the latest skirmish of an unfolding legal battle over claims that President Bush proposed bombing Al Jazeera's television headquarters.

Mr. Bush's reported remarks were disclosed in a leaked document, the contents of which were published in a British newspaper late last year. The comments raised questions here about whether Britain might be drawn into questionable military operations as a result of its alliance with Washington.

Indeed, in an interview published Tuesday, Gen. Sir Michael Rose, a former commander of United Nations troops in Bosnia, called for the impeachment of Prime Minister Tony Blair for taking the country to war on false pretenses.

The remarks were unusually blunt for a commander of such rank. "People have seen their political wishes ignored for reasons now proved false," General Rose told The Guardian, referring to Mr. Blair's prewar insistence on the presence of unconventional weapons in Iraq.

He added: "No one can undo the decision to go to war. But the impeachment of Mr. Blair is now something I believe must happen if we are to rekindle interest in the democratic process."

In the latest legal maneuvers, David Keogh, 49, a government communications officer, and Leo O'Connor, 42, a former parliamentary researcher, face charges under the Official Secrets Act. They were indicted last November.

Mr. Keogh is accused on two counts. One is that he passed a memo to Mr. O'Connor between April 16 and May 29, 2004. The second, made public on Tuesday, is that he, "without lawful authority, made a damaging disclosure of a document dated April 16, 2004, which had been in his possession by virtue of his position as a crown servant."

Mr. O'Connor has indicated that he plans to plead not guilty. Mr. Keogh did not say how he would plead in the trial, scheduled for Jan. 24.

The document was described last fall by The Daily Mirror as a transcript of a conversation in the White House on April 16, 2004, in which Mr. Blair dissuaded President Bush from bombing Al Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar, in the Persian Gulf.

At that time, American generals were complaining publicly that Al Jazeera's coverage of Iraq on its Arabic-language channel was inflaming anti-American sentiment.

Neil Clark, a lawyer for Mr. O'Connor, said he was shown the memo for the first time on Tuesday on condition that he discuss it only with his client. But, Mr. Clark said, he would seek the disclosure of the document in court. "I didn't think there was anything in there that could embarrass the British government," he said.

The court hearings came as Peter Kilfoyle, a legislator from Mr. Blair's Labor Party, said he and another lawmaker, Tony Clarke, who employed Mr. O'Connor as a researcher, had tried to publicize the document in the United States in 2004.

Mr. Kilfoyle said in a telephone interview that he and Mr. Clarke had hoped to influence the 2004 presidential election by sharing information from the document with John Latham, 71, a British citizen with connections to the Democratic Party. They met Mr. Latham at the House of Commons, Mr. Kilfoyle said.

"The intention was to help the Democrats by giving them information that was germane to the kind of president that the Americans were being asked to re-elect," he said.

For his part, Mr. Latham was quoted in The Guardian as saying the reported proposal to bomb Al Jazeera had been "defused by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Tony Blair, thank goodness."

The leaked document has raised questions about whether Mr. Bush was joking or serious if he made the reported suggestion. Al Jazeera has said that, if genuine, the document would cast "serious doubts" on American assertions that the military had not made targets of Al Jazeera's offices and employees in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mark Stephens, a lawyer observing the legal proceedings on behalf of Al Jazeera, said the broadcaster was "very concerned for the safety and well-being of their staff." Asked if Mr. Bush's reported comments could be interpreted as a joke, he said, "If it was a joke, it behooves him to clarify that and make clear to everyone that it was."

When it was first reported, Scott McLellan, the White House spokesman, said he was "not interested in dignifying something so outlandish and inconceivable with a response." A White House spokeswoman on Tuesday declined to elaborate on that comment.

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