Al-Jazeera asks to see Bush 'bombing' transcript

[DoYouEverWonder]

January 17, 2006

Lawyers representing al-Jazeera yesterday demanded to see a Downing Street record of a conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush in which the US president said he wanted to bomb the Arabic satellite television station based in the Gulf state of Qatar.

The document is said to be a transcript of a conversation between the two leaders in April 2004. "Any thought of bombing al-Jazeera ... would be both morally wicked and legally indefensible," said Mark Stephens, the TV station's lawyer.

Downing Street has already said it has information "relevant" to the issue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1688146,00.html

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. "morally wicked and legally indefensible". I love the sound of the free

press kicking butt!

A sound very unfamiliar to me, living here in the states and all. MKJ

[Demeter]

2. Sounds Like a War Crime Brief in the Making

It may be a miserable life for us Americans to come for the foreseeable future, but there will be the compensation of live theatre watching the gelding of the GOP. Revenge, bathos, pathos, comedy tonight and for many nights to come.

Get your Schadenfreude hot and plentiful, chopped liver and all.

[cal04]

3. Bush Facing Legal Action

An Arab TV station has begun legal action over allegations that President Bush talked to Tony Blair about bombing its headquarters in Qatar. Al Jazeera has hired a team of London lawyers to try to obtain minutes of an alleged meeting between the leaders.

Last November, the head of the station, Wadah Khanfar, delivered a letter to Mr Blair demanding to know what was actually said at the White House. He also said al Jazeera had asked the White House for an explanation.

Also in November, there were reports of a memo showing Mr Blair had talked his US counterpart out of taking action.
Qatar is an ally of America and was the location of US military headquarters during the Iraq war.

The White House rejected reports of the conversation, calling them "outlandish". But US officials have accused al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for al Qaeda. Downing Street has said it was quite happy to talk to al Jazeera as it was to other broadcasters.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13494247,00.html

[EuroObserver]

5. Maybe they could subpoena Colin Powell,

who apparently joined Blair in dissuading Bush on this.

The discussion was apparently in the context of criticism of US forces' action in Fallujah at that time (and alJazeera's coverage of this).

[Xenotime]

4. they are the only free press...

the * right wing media is too corrupt.

[sabra]

6. Al-Jazeera hires lawyers to get transcript (* and Blair conversation)

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/world/story/3081274p-11780971c.html

Al-Jazeera hires lawyers to get transcript


CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Jazeera has hired a British law firm to press its request to British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a partial transcript of a conversation between him and U.S. President George W. Bush in which the American leader allegedly said the Arab broadcaster's headquarters should be bombed.

Yosri Fouda, an investigative reporter and acting Al-Jazeera bureau chief in London, told The Associated Press the network had hired Finers Stephens Innocent LLP in an "attempt to put pressure on the British government" to hand over part of the record of the conversation.

"We would like to know the truth," Fouda said in a telephone interview. The news channel, which is highly popular throughout the Middle East, wanted to "set the record straight" concerning the Bush-Blair conversation.

Fouda said the network was only asking for a transcription of "the ten lines" of the conversation that purportedly involved the Doha, Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, conceding that Britain's desire to keep the rest of the conversation secret was understandable as a matter of state security.

[rodeodance]

7. umm..interesting turn of events.

[sabra]

8. it's good to see that this one isn't going away...

[EuroObserver]

9. Ah, so cross-ref this DU thread today:

BBC: Al-Jazeera 'bombing plan' denied (by Downing Street)

Note: Reuters (UK) on this:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-17T173948Z_01_L17418026_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-BRITAIN-JAZEERA.xml
"...MP Peter Kilfoyle said last week he had been briefed on the memo by former MP Tony Clarke who had seen it, saying it had included a discussion of bombing Al Jazeera and of an attack on the Iraqi town of Falluja.

Two men are facing trial on charges of leaking the memo."

/more...

[Imagevision]

10. So Bush wants to eaces-drop but doesn't want known what he said to Tony