Hacking trial will keep PM’s judgment in spotlight

LONDON

The leadership of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, will be rocked by the phone hacking scandal right into next year now that his friend Rebekah Brooks and his former media adviser Andy Coulson have been charged and face trial.
The pair face possible jail terms on charges they conspired to hack the phones of more than 600 people, and their trials next year may reveal new emails or evidence relating to dealings with Mr Cameron, who is up for election in 2015.
Mr Cameron has faced serious questions about his judgment in hiring Mr Coulson, who was appointed to Downing Street after resigning from News of the World over phone hacking.
Mr Cameron has also been criticised for his friendship with Mrs Brooks, a former chief executive of News International.
A lecturer in politics and media at Nottingham Trent University, Matthew Ashton, told the Herald last night: “The criminal charges make things potentially very difficult for Cameron. Obviously they are innocent until proven guilty but, in terms of public perception and media perception, this is going to hang over them and over him for up to the next two years.
“It calls into question again his judgment in being such close personal friends of Brooks and employing Coulson. There will be more questions asked about Coulson’s vetting.”
Mr Coulson, who like Mrs Brooks strongly denies all charges, has said he knew nothing of phone hacking but resigned because the practice took place on his watch.
Dr Ashton said the charges will force Mr Cameron to distance himself further from them.
“I’m sure if they could be erased from official photos without anyone noticing they would be,” he said. It would further strain Mr Cameron’s relationship with the Murdoch empire before an election, he said.
After Rupert Murdoch and his son James appeared before a committee of MPs inquiring into the phone-hacking allegations, coverage in The Times and The Sun gave Mr Cameron “a rougher ride”, Dr Ashton said.
Mrs Brooks and Mr Coulson are among eight people formerly employed by News of the World who are charged with 19 counts of conspiracy over phone hacking. Their targets allegedly included Labour cabinet ministers and celebrities.
Mr Coulson faces five counts of conspiring to unlawfully intercept communications, including the voicemail of a murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler. Mrs Brooks faces three similar counts.
Dr Ashton said the Prime Minister’s links with News International, revealed in the Leveson inquiry into the media, have also reinforced a view the Conservative Party looks after “its friends” rather than the people.
The Barclays banking scandal and the phone-hacking revelations have intertwined to create “a feeling that in what is supposed to be a meritocracy, the very top people in the country are out only for themselves and their friends and the fact that in the Leveson inquiry text messages between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks were revealed … did help create that mood about an old boys’ network in smoke-filled rooms”.First published in The Age.

Brits return to Blitz mentality

The Olympics security contractor had no hope of meeting the requirement, writes Karen Kissane in London.

For those trying to organise security for the London Olympics, the blame games are already up and running.
Gloomier Londoners already viewed the Games as an ordeal to be endured with the kind of British stoicism displayed during the Blitz. The chaos around security, however, is of an entirely different order. It opens the way to catastrophe.
In the past 10 days, Britain and the world have learnt that the Games has a shortfall of 3500 security guards as well as problems notifying existing guards when and where they are to report for work. Only 30 of an expected 300 officers turned up to guard cyclists. Only 10 of 58 arrived to guard footballers; 20 of 58 were at the main Olympic hotel; and none turned up for an induction day at Coventry Stadium (70 expected).
“It’s a lottery as to how many staff are going to turn up,” Clive Chamberlain, chairman of Dorset Police Federation, told The Guardian. “It’s a fiasco, an absolute debacle.”
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, at the centre of a political firestorm over the mess, claims the government knew nothing of the crisis until told last week by G4S, the company hired to provide Games security. She has called in 3500 emergency personnel, including sailors, airmen and police, to fill the shortfall.
Another 2000 might be needed, but the government is fending off that embarrassment, despite warnings from defence chiefs that notice is required if troops are wanted at the opening ceremony next Friday. This would bring the total military involved in the Games, planned and unplanned, to 19,000.
GS4’s chief executive, Nick Buckles, copped a grilling by MPs this week in which he admitted he couldn’t guarantee he could supply even the 7000 guards now required at his tattered end of the bargain. He said he could not predict the scale of “no-shows” until recruits failed to respond to an email. He also could not promise that all the guards would speak fluent English: “I don’t know what fluent English is.”
Asked by an MP whether the debacle was a “humiliating shambles”, Buckles admitted, “I would have to agree with you.”
G4S has had £400 million ($600 million) wiped off its market value and is predicting it will make a £50 million loss on the Games contract. But it is insisting on its £57 million “management fee”.
How did it come to this?
It appears computer glitches at G4S sent recruits to the wrong venues or supplied them with incorrect schedules.
There also seems to be a larger than expected number of casual employees who have lost interest or found another job.
However, May said the company had been assuring ministers it would “overshoot” the recruitment targets in its £284 million contract. This is at odds with an internal Home Office memo, revealed this week by The Sunday Times, that warned in April, “We will very soon start to see big shortfalls against planned numbers.”
Part of the problem is governmental dithering.
Last December, fully six years after London won the Games, the government had a last-minute rush of blood to the head over security issues and dramatically amped up the brief to G4S from 2000 guards (in a contract signed in December 2010) to 13,700 guards.
The tardiness was despite the fact that London was hit by the 7/7 suicide bomb attacks the day after winning the race for the Olympics in 2005. Defence chiefs had offered to provide Games security but the government decided outsourcing to a private company would be better.
Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, said: “It is outrageous. [The organisers] knew in 2005 that security was going to be a major challenge but they left it too late.”
There also have been concerns about the quality of recruits. G4S, which won the contract partly because it had provided security for the Olympics site during construction, has also protected the Wimbledon tennis championships.
A security consultant who went undercover for the company at Wimbledon last year wrote a report listing alarming lapses.
These included some staff lacking even “the most basic security knowledge” needed to guard a significant terrorism target; staff routinely leaving premises unprotected by sleeping on the job; and some recruits being allowed to skip hearing and smell tests designed to check that they were able to notice fires or explosions.
The security consultant who wrote the report, Peter Bleksley, is a former Scotland Yard detective. He warned that the problems could “eventually prove catastrophic for G4S” and some were so serious they could have “fatal consequences” if they were not fixed before the Games.
Buckles claims those concerns were taken on board and dealt with, but one whistleblower has claimed the company has been forced to resort to a “no-fail policy” for recruits in the current crisis.
Despite the torrent of bad publicity, Games chief Sebastian Coe has promised safety will not be compromised: “My responsibility is to make sure that we get a Games that is safe and secure. We will do that, and it is to make sure that our teams, the Home Office and the military sit alongside G4S and mobilise and deploy exactly who we need to.”
It will certainly be one of the most militarised Olympics ever, with missiles poised and jets on hand and the Royal Navy’s largest warship deployed to launch military helicopters.
All that might prove of little use if a terrorist slips through the net at Heathrow Airport. The Observer reported that suspects had been able to enter Britain in the run-up to the Games without being picked up by security checks. A senior border officer said inexperienced recruits were repeatedly failing to refer passengers on a watch list to counter-terrorism officers.

First published in The Age.

Security lapses cast dark cloud over London Olympics

Poor weather and London’s notorious traffic snarls could be the least of the problems when the 2012 Olympics begin next week, reports Karen Kissane.

FIRST there is the weather. London has had its wettest summer on record. In a recent newspaper column, the city’s irrepressible mayor, Boris Johnson, mused on how that might be turned around in time for the Olympics: ”Perhaps we could stage a pagan ritual at Stonehenge, involving either the sacrifice of maidens [if there are any these days], or a goat, or a rabbit, or maybe just a worm – whatever the RSPCA would allow.”

The sun god Ra could be implored to ”vaporise the thunderheads ? before the entire country dissolves like a sugar cube and sinks into the sea”, he wrote.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, has warned spectators of rowing and equestrian events that their viewing areas are a sea of mud, and advised raincoats. One of his officials – presumably one of little faith regarding Ra – went a step further: ”Bring wellies.”

Then there is travel, or lack thereof. London’s road traffic moves like molasses on a normal day. Its underground train system is already so jammed at peak hour that fuming commuters must let trains go without boarding because there simply isn’t room to squeeze on. Some stations close for a while on exceptionally bad days, keeping commuters from even getting onto a platform. But the system will have to cope with about a million extra trips per day during the Olympics. Londoners are being asked to work from home or find other ways to stay off the system for the duration.

This week, road traffic into London slowed to a crawl as parts of the 48 kilometres of dedicated Games Lanes – to be used only by members of the ”Olympic family” – came into operation. An accident and a suicide caused two separate bottlenecks, with traffic not moving at all for about 45 minutes. Other jams were caused by last-minute braking as drivers fearing fines in the Olympic lane suddenly swerved to change lanes.

All these difficulties are tiresome, particularly for the gloomier Londoners who already viewed the Games as an ordeal to be endured with the kind of British stoicism displayed during the Blitz. But they are minor and predictable problems.

The chaos around Olympics security, however, is of an entirely different order. It opens the way to catastrophe.

Over the past 10 days, Britain and the world have learnt that the Games has a shortfall of 3500 security guards, as well as problems notifying the guards who do exist about when and where they are to report for work. Only 30 out of an expected 300 security officers turned up to guard cyclists. Only 10 out of 58 arrived to guard footballers; only 20 out of 58 at the main Olympic hotel; and no guards at all turned up for an induction day at Coventry Stadium (70 had been expected).

”On a daily basis it’s a lottery as to how many staff are going to turn up,” Clive Chamberlain, chairman of Dorset Police Federation, told The Guardian. ”It’s a fiasco, an absolute debacle.”

Home Secretary Theresa May, at the centre of a political firestorm over the mess, claims the government knew nothing of the crisis until it was told last week by G4S, the company hired to provide Games security. She has called in 3500 emergency troops, including sailors and airmen, and police from eight forces around the nation to fill the shortfall.

Another 2000 might be needed but the government is fending off that further embarrassment, despite warnings from defence chiefs that notice is required if their troops are to be in action by the opening ceremony next Friday. This would bring the total numbers of military staff involved in the Games, both planned and unplanned, to 19,000.

GS4 chief executive Nick Buckles endured a grilling by MPs this week in which he admitted that he couldn’t guarantee he could supply even the 7000 guards now required by his tattered end of the bargain. He said he could not predict the scale of ”no shows” until recruits failed to respond to an email. He also could not promise that all the guards would speak fluent English: ”I don’t know what fluent English is.” Asked by an MP whether the debacle was a ”humiliating shambles” for his company, Buckles admitted, ”I would have to agree with you.” G4S has seen £400 million ($A600 million) wiped off its market value and is predicting it will make a £50 million loss on the Games contract. But it is still insisting on claiming its £57 million ”management fee”.

How did it come to this? It appears computer glitches at G4S sent recruits to wrong venues or supplied them with incorrect schedules. There also seems to be a larger than expected number of casual employees who lost interest or found another job. But May claimed the company had been assuring ministers it would ”overshoot” the recruitment targets in its £284 million contract. This is at odds with an internal Home Office memo revealed by The Sunday Times that warned in April, ”We will very soon start to see big shortfalls against planned numbers.”

Part of the problem is due to governmental dithering. Last December, a full six years after London won the Games, the government had a last-minute rush of blood to the head over security issues and dramatically amped up the brief to G4S from 2000 guards (in a contract signed in December 2010) to 13,700 guards. The tardiness was despite the fact that London was hit by the July 7 suicide bomb attacks the day after winning the race for the Olympics in 2005. Defence chiefs had offered to provide Games security but the government decided outsourcing to a private company would be better.

Margaret Hodge, chair of the Commons public accounts committee, said, ”It is outrageous. [The organisers] knew in 2005 that security was going to be a major challenge but they left it too late.”

There have also been concerns about the quality of recruits. G4S, which won the contract partly because it has previously provided security for the Olympics site during construction, has also protected the Wimbledon tennis championships.

A security consultant who went undercover for the company at Wimbledon last year reported alarming lapses. These included some staff lacking even ”the most basic security knowledge” needed to guard a significant terrorism target; staff routinely leaving premises unprotected by sleeping on the job; and some recruits being allowed to skip hearing and smell tests designed to check that they were able to notice fires or explosions. The security consultant who wrote the report, Peter Bleksley, is a former Scotland Yard detective. He warned that the problems could ”eventually prove catastrophic for G4S” and some were so serious they could have ”fatal consequences” if they were not fixed before the Games.

Buckles claims those concerns were taken on board and dealt with, but one whistleblower has claimed the company has been forced to resort to a ”no-fail policy” for recruits in the current crisis.

G4S made headlines in the 1990s over security breaches with its prisoner-escort service. This week, prosecutors decided not to bring charges against three of its guards who, at Heathrow, restrained an Angolan man who became ill and died of cardio-respiratory failure following the incident in October 2010.

Despite the torrent of bad publicity, Games chief Coe has promised that safety is not compromised: ”My responsibility is to make sure that we get a Games that is safe and secure. We will do that, and it is to make sure that our teams, the Home Office and the military sit alongside G4S and mobilise and deploy exactly who we need to.”

Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the national Olympic security co-ordinator, has also denied that security is falling over: ”The plan is exactly the same as it was. It is just being delivered by different people. I went through the search regime at Olympic Park ? and it was everything you could possibly want.”

It will certainly be one of the most militarised Olympics ever, with missiles poised and jets on hand and the Royal Navy’s largest warship deployed to launch military helicopters.

All that might prove of little use if a would-be terrorist slips through the net at Heathrow Airport. The Observer reported that terror suspects were able to enter Britain in the run-up to the Games without being picked up by security checks. A senior border officer claimed inexperienced recruits were repeatedly failing to refer passengers on a watch list to counter-terrorism officers.

With less than a week to go before the London Olympics begin, the blame games are already up and running.

First published on theage.com.au

WikiLeaks exposes Syria files

London
WIKILEAKS last night began publishing a vast database of 2.4 million emails it says involve the Syrian government and associated companies, spokeswoman Sarah Harrison told a London press conference. Ms Harrison said the Syria files ”shine a light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and economy, but they also reveal how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another”.She said the emails had been set up in a multilingual data-mining system with languages including English, Arabic and Russian that can be analysed in many different ways.

The emails derived from 680 Syria-related entities or domain names, ”including those of the ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information, Transport and Culture ?

”The range of information extends from the intimate correspondence of the most senior Baath party figures to records of financial transfers sent from Syrian ministries to other nations.”

This leak dwarfed ”cablegate”, the release by WikiLeaks of previously confidential cable exchanges between American embassies and Washington. ”The data is more than eight times the size of ”cablegate” in terms of number of documents and more than 100 times the size in terms of data,” Ms Harrison said.

The first story would be about emails demonstrating that a Western defence company had been selling as late as this year technology to Syria, which has been enduring a bloody government crackdown on rebellion.

She said that SELEX, which belonged to the multinational defence leader Finmeccanica, had sold Syria a technology called TETRA, which allows police forces to communicate in a secure and reliable way. ”The selling, assistance and training by Selex continued through to this year,” she alleged.

A website for SELEX Communications said it sells an emergency services communication system called TETRA, an acronym for Terrestrial Trunked Radio.

Ms Harrison said she could not comment further on individual stories or headlines until they were published via seven media partners over the next two months. Publishers would include Associated Press in the US, OWNI in France and Publico.es in Spain.

Ms Harrison also declined to comment on the situation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who remains holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has applied for asylum.

She read a comment from him that said: ”The material is embarrassing to Syria, but it is also embarrassing to Syria’s opponents. It helps us not merely to criticise one group or another, but to understand their interests, actions and thoughts. It is only through understanding this conflict that we can hope to resolve it.”

Assange has been inside the embassy since June 19 seeking political asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sex allegations.

He denies the claims and says the sex was consensual and the claims against him politically motivated. He fears that extradition to Sweden could be followed by extradition to the United States where he could be charged over ”cablegate”.

First published at theage.com.au on 6 July 2012<

Lawyer back with family, awaits ICC questions

THE HAGUE

AUSTRALIAN lawyer Melinda Taylor has been reunited with her husband and put her two-year-old daughter, Yasmina, to bed for the first time since she was released from 3½ weeks of captivity in Libya on spying allegations.
“We need to just sleep in and try and get back to normal,” Ms Taylor’s husband, Geoffrey Roberts, told the Herald in a text message yesterday.
However, Ms Taylor’s ordeal may not be over. The International Criminal Court has said it will investigate Libyan claims about Ms Taylor’s conduct.
Ms Taylor’s mother, Janelle Taylor, told the ABC’s 7.30 last night her daughter was coping very well but was surprised at the level of media attention.
“She said, ‘Why would they be interested in me?’ ” Mrs Taylor said.
She said her daughter spoke about how happy she was to be home, but did not discuss any of the details of her captivity.
John Taylor added that he thought his daughter was “unwinding”.
“It was an unpleasant experience, I’m sure. She’ll keep that within herself for a while, I’d say,” Mr Taylor said.
Mrs Taylor said she believed her daughter would be undergoing counselling and a medical examination.
The family thanked those who had provided support during her captivity, including the Foreign Minister, Bob Carr.
“Melinda’s only just realising what sort of work Bob Carr has done for her and she intends … to thank him personally,” Mrs Taylor said.
Mr Carr, who had been involved in negotiations for Ms Taylor’s release, said at times he had feared Ms Taylor might not be released quickly. There were points at which the process was taking too long and he feared the worst, he said.
Ms Taylor, a lawyer with the ICC based at The Hague, arrived on a private chartered jet at a small secondary terminal at Rotterdam airport about 9am yesterday, Australian time.
She and three colleagues who had been with her in Libya spent about 45 minutes with officials before leaving in a convoy that included the ICC president, Song Sang-Hyun.
The Libyans allege Ms Taylor had been caught carrying “spying devices” and documents that breached national security.
They allege she had carried coded documents for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. Saif is the son of the late dictator Muammar Gaddafi and is a prisoner in jail in the town of Zintan, which is held by a rebel militia.
The ICC wants to try him for crimes against humanity during his father’s rule. Ms Taylor was assigned to speak with him about his legal representation.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council obtained by The Guardian, Libya claimed she tried to pass Saif a secret letter from Mohammad Ismail, Saif’s “main aide” and an associate of Gaddafi’s intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi.
They allege Ms Taylor also took to the consultation with Saif a miniature “video camera pen” and a watch “that functions for the same purpose”.
Ms Taylor’s supporters have said she is highly professional and would never have behaved improperly. They speculated some of the claims might be the result of failure to understand the normal lawyer-client relationship, which involves exchanging documents and recording evidence.
Senator Carr said yesterday: “Talking to [Ms Taylor’s parents] John and Janelle, I had to tell them the evidence was ambiguous.”

First published in The Sydney Morning Herald.