Matthew Cookson | ukwatch.net

Real Victim of Bugging Scandal is Babar Ahmad

Ellie Keen — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:47:07 +0000

Arrested on the wishes of the US. Thrown in jail for the past three and a half years. Threatened with extradition on trumped up “terrorism” charges. And now it has been revealed that the police bugged his meetings with his MP.

That’s the story of Babar Ahmad, a south London IT worker, who is the real victim of the bugging scandal that has emerged over the last week.

The media and politicians have whipped themselves into a frenzy after it was revealed that meetings at Woodhill Prison between Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting and a government whip, and Babar Ahmad had been bugged.

Senior police offices authorised the operation, apparently without the knowledge of then home secretary Jack Straw, who has now launched an inquiry into the case.

The inquiry ought to look at the outrageous way in which Babar Ahmad has been treated, and assess the impact of police surveillance upon those whose only crime is to oppose British foreign policy.

It will not. The MPs are merely concerned that their own private conversations are being listened to. But it is Babar who is suffering in this case.

He was arrested on 5 August 2004 after an extradition request from the US. It accused him of running a website supporting “terrorists” in Chechnya and Afghanistan.

Babar has not been charged with any crime in Britain and the attorney general has given written confirmation that there is insufficient evidence to charge him in this country.

But the British government is still aiding the US in its attempts to extradite Babar to face a trial there – a trial in the country that gave us Guantanamo Bay and secret rendition to torture centres around the world, and punishes people with the death penalty.

A high-profile campaign by Babar’s friends and family has so far frustrated this plan. But his case is now at the European Court of Human Rights, which will make a decision soon.

Sara Ahmad, Babar’s sister, told Socialist Worker, “We are very concerned that private meetings with his MP, at which the strategy to fight his extradition has been discussed, have been bugged.

“We are also concerned that his legal teams’ visits may also have been bugged, and are demanding to know whether the monitoring was at the request of the US. We also want to know whether the recorded discussions were passed on to the other side in preparation for its legal case?

“Our confidence in the Metropolitan Police and the authorities has plummeted.

“We have tried everything – petitions, letters, protests, attempting to get the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate. But Babar is still faced with extradition.

“The case shows Britain’s subservience to the US.”

The bugging scandal has revealed the continuing crackdown on civil liberties under the “war on terror” and New Labour’s increasingly authoritarian regime.

Security sources told the Times newspaper this week that many prisoners in British jails are routinely under covert electronic surveillance.

Matt Foot, a solicitor in north London, told Socialist Worker, “I was pleased to see the principled reaction of my old boss, Sadiq Khan, to the bugging of his prison visits with Babar Ahmed.

“Sadiq was a fine lawyer. He has also however been a pretty much establishment Blairite MP – with the exception of his stand over the war on Lebanon – and has been rewarded with a post as a government whip.

“But surely the real point here is, if the security services are bugging his prison visits what hope does that give to the rest of us?

“Jack Straw’s inquiry needs to take a look into the bugging of lawyers’ visits with their clients, and see who is accountable.”

For more information go to www.freebabarahmad.com

Britain's Biggest Ever...

jo — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 18:52:17 +0000

Some 10,000 mainly young people marched through central London last Saturday against the inaction of the US and British governments over climate change.

The protest was the biggest ever demonstration over the issue in Britain and was part of the international day of action over climate change.

This was timed to coincide with the United Nations Montreal conference of countries that have signed up to the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

There was deep anger against Tony Blair and his support for the US, which has refused to sign up to Kyoto.

Blair has recently cast doubt on a post-Kyoto international treaty with legally binding targets on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide that cause climate change.

Protesters handed a letter in to 10 Downing Street calling for action on climate change. The march rallied outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square.

Peoples fears over the growing environmental catastrophe were increased last week as scientists announced that the ocean current that bathes Britain in warm tropical waters is weakening.

The meridional current, which drives the Gulf stream, has slowed down by one third in the last 12 years. If the current remains weak it could lead to a one degree centigrade drop in Britains temperature.

The majority of people on last Saturdays demonstration were opposed to New Labours plans to build new nuclear power plants.

Michael Meacher, former Labour environment minister, received a huge cheer when he said, We have to stop burning fossil fuels and do more to develop renewable energy sources. That is the right answer not going down the nuclear route.

That will bring thousands of tonnes of dangerous wastes, cancer and leukaemia clusters around nuclear plants and the risk of catastrophe. We need nuclear like we need a hole in the head.

Phil Thornhill of the Campaign Against Climate Change, which organised the protest, told the rally, This will be the greatest political campaign the world will ever see. It is confronting the greatest threat humanity has ever seen.

Elaine Graham-Leigh of Respect said, This year we have watched poor black people die in New Orleans.

We have seen the war on Iraq. We have seen that the oil companies are not willing to give up profits and move away from oil.

Today is the beginning of the global movement against climate change and for social justice. The world does not belong to the oil companies and is not the property of Bush and Blair.

It is our world and we will not allow them to mess it up for profits.

Writer and activist Jonathan Neale said, What happened in New Orleans reveals the reality of climate change and the rottenness of the society dominated by the screaming eagle on top of the US embassy.

In Pakistan and Kashmir 100,000 people will die in the cold after the earthquake there as the governments of the world do nothing. We need a global new deal to stop climate change.

They want nuclear power because they want nuclear bombs. Nuclear bombs are the same threat to the planet as climate change, they just do it quicker.

We are going to build a movement that can change the world and save the planet.

Voices raised in protest

People came to London from across England and Wales for the demonstration.

This is about the future of our planet, said Zaynab, a college student from east London. We want to make a difference. We want kids to have a future.

We have been raising the issues among students at our college.

Tom Wilson, a student in Lincolnshire, told Socialist Worker, There were 34 people on our bus from Lincoln. I am worried about the way the government is going back on the Kyoto agreement by failing to meet its emissions cuts targets.

I am also concerned about nuclear power there are much safer and better alternatives, such as solar and wind.

I am a student tree surgeon and when you see the leaves on the trees at this time of year its not normal.

I have also been on some of the anti-war marches and I campaign for the things I feel strongly about.

Hazel, Emma, Emily and Natalie came from a Cambridge sixth form college. They said, The planet is being destroyed and we dont have a say. We are underestimating the impact of climate change.

All other countries are pulling their weight, while the US and Britain are going backwards.

Farhan Ali is a student in Bradford and a Respect member. He said, A coach load of people have come from Bradford. Respect has been heavily involved in bringing local people here. The climate march is for everyone. We have to preserve nature.

Marches around the globe

Last Saturdays global protest took place in more than 30 countries. Some 3,500 gathered in Sydney, Australia and 10,000 in Australia as a whole. Around 500 protested in Edinburgh.

Another 2,000 protested in Istanbul and 1,000 each in two other Turkish cities. A number of smaller demonstrations took place around the world including in countries gravely threatened by climate change such as Bangladesh, where a demonstration occurred in the capital Dhaka.

Some countries had their first ever demonstration on climate change including South Korea and Russia.

The biggest demonstration took place in Montreal, Canada, where the United Nations climate talks are taking place.

Jesse McLaren in Canada reports, 40,000 people marched in the streets of Montreal. There was broad participation from environmental organisations, student groups, trade unionists, and peace activists and a strong youth presence.

The mood was energetic and links with the anti-war movement clear. A banner from an Ottawa peace group read, Wage war on pollution, not people.

Montreal has had a number of mass mobilisations in recent years. Last year a student general strike forced the government to repeal some of their budget cuts, and the year before mass protests helped stop Canada from sending troops to Iraq.

This hot climate of resistance has also seen the birth of a new left coalition party, lUnion des Forces Progressistes the Union of Progressive Forces which has helped build these demonstrations.

For more on the campaign go to http://www.campaigncc.org or the international site http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org