Where in the world is "Abu Elias?"

[Caustic Logic]

Yet another fascinating wrinkle to the Lockerbie saga - not a new one really, but one I'm only now looking at.

To introduce "Abu Elias," I'll start with the report FBI's Ed Marshman made from interviews in November 1989 with double-agent bomb maker Marwan Khreesat. (read into record at Camp Zeist, day 76, Dec 5 2000
“Khreesat never saw Abu Elias in Germany, but was told by Dalkamoni that Abu Elias had arrived. (This occurred on October the 22nd, 1988)”
The same day Khreesat set to work on his bombs. I don't have my transcripts handy for fresh quotes... The alleged role of "Elais" varies - supplying parts, supplying a made radio bomb, monitoring Khreesat's work, sneaking one of the bomb onto an airplane. Khressat says he was to do the latter, circumvent airport security, his area of expertise. He and Dalkamouni were on their way to deliver a bomb to "Elias" when they were arrrested. Khreesat later complained the BKA had moved too soon and missed its chance to catch this chimera.

But one bomb (perhaps the one built by Elias himself, modified by Khreesat, it's confusing) had already disappeared, leaving Khreesat with the impression Dalkamouni had already taken it (back?) to Elias. So when he got away, it may have been with a Khreesat rigged bomb.
“Abu Elias was the big centre of the investigation, but he was very elusive,” says former-CIA big-mouth Robert Baer. [source]He remained highly sought after until after until the clues turned to Libya, and by the Nov 1991 indictments of Megrahi and Fhimah "Abu Elias" was forgotten.

Revisionism centered around Elias anyway, starting right away with a PLO report that cited him, not the Libyans, as the bomb builder and a PFLP-GC bigwig. Time magazine’s controversial “Why Did They Die?” cover story in April 1992 included “last month the Palestine Liberation Organization reported that [the bomb] was built by Khaisar Haddad (a.k.a. Abu Elias).”

Coleman/Goddard's Trail of the Octopus describews him as 25-years old, blond with blue eyes, and CHristian from Lebanon. The book says he handed this bomb, that he made, to a contact in Lebanon (ch 13). Mobdi Goben's famous deathbed confession says Elias sneaked it into Khalid Jafaar's luggage in Frankfurt. And then there's reason the believe he placed the bomb at London, in that it blew up like Khreesat''s would if loaded there. Also the evidence for any bomb coming from Frankfurt is weak and evidence of it coming from Malta (where the Libyans were) is about dead in the water.

So if we wondered where he got to after Germany - we don't know. On his release last year, Megrahi said Mr. "Elias" was living safely in the suburbs of Washington D.C., and promised to reveal his true name. It doesn't seem he has yet, nor has anyone but "Aangrifan" identified the guy Megrahi has fingered as Khaiser Haddad.

But the Megrahi threat was reported in a detailed piece by the UK Express, August 23 2009. Some excerpts:

"The Scottish Sunday Express tracked this man down to his home in the US, and he strongly denied having anything to do with the atrocity. However, we can reveal that he has connections to at least two international terrorists and a Palestinian terror group, as well as links to the US intelligence services."
[...]
Last night the man, who we have chosen not to name, said: “Sorry, I don’t think that I can help in this case. It is a clear case of either mistaken identity and/or fabrication. I don’t wish my name to be mentioned in any capacity in the press. I am sure you understand the sensitivity of this matter since I have a family and children.” However, Christine Grahame MSP, who visited Megrahi in Greenock prison and campaigned for his release, is believed to be considering naming the man in the Scottish Parliament chamber.

She said: “It is apparent that US intelligence has known or must have known the primary suspect of the Lockerbie bombing was alive and living safely in Washington. “There has been a suggestion made that he is in some way an ‘intelligence asset’ for the US and that is why he has been allowed to live in peace. “He must be deeply relieved that Megrahi was forced to drop his appeal and that he will never face justice for this atrocity.”
[...]
The man Megrahi believes was Abu Elias now lives in a suburban neighbourhood near Washington’s Dulles airport, just a few miles from the White House and the Lockerbie memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. He even has his own Facebook social network page. ... He is the nephew of Syrian terror warlord Ahmed Jibril ... works as a schools engineer for the US government ...
[...]
A document submitted to the appeal court by Megrahi’s lawyers states:
“The FBI had apparently investigated ‘X’ and knew he was the nephew of Ahmed Jibril. ‘X’ had met with FBI special agents [an appointment was in his diary for August 1988] but neither ‘X’ nor the Department of Justice would disclose who the agents were or the precise purpose of the recorded meeting. ‘X’ admitted the meeting had taken place. It is inconceivable that he did not produce his Syrian passport for examination. Only extracts from his US passport were revealed. Once again, the hand of the US government appeared to be guiding matters behind the scenes.”

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/122299/-I-ll-reveal-true-identity-of-bomber UK NEWS

Let's discuss.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Let's discuss.

Or not, as the case may be. I've heard of people even within the 'Lockerbie Truth movement' and certainly those without, say this is a misunderstanding, hoax, or misdirection. Others seem to think its an amazing clue of the United States covering up the truth. If the bomber wound up living so close to the President and his forces, makes one wonder why if not to keep him quiet. I'm not sure what to make of it, but we've got quite a few alleged features to this "Abu Elias." Nephew of Jibril pops to the top as a "whaaaa?"

Wikipedia has no page for Abu Elias. Nor Khreesat either. (!!)

If this is the same Elias mentioned by the PLO, and his name is Kaisher Haddad, his Facebook page is down now. ("Kaisar Haddad" is a different older guy who taught in Lebanon and is now dead. Perhaps related.)

 

[Rolfe]

Look, I haven't a freaking clue about this bit. It's going to take time to assimilate your OP. And I got other fish to fry for a bit.

I was musing on when (and why) the investigators actively abandoned the idea of pinning this on the PFLP-GC, and wondering which thread to clutter up with the subject. Might get to it in this one.

Rolfe.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Look, I haven't a freaking clue about this bit. It's going to take time to assimilate your OP. And I got other fish to fry for a bit.

I was musing on when (and why) the investigators actively abandoned the idea of pinning this on the PFLP-GC, and wondering which thread to clutter up with the subject. Might get to it in this one.

Rolfe.

Oooh, when you start with "look," it seems I've annoyed you. Sorry.

Thanks for the response though. It gets awkward starting a thread alone. Buncrana, Dan O., anyone else? I'd glossed over this before as too tenuous/confusing, etc. But surprisingly Rolfe has remained uninformed on it as well. Does anyone have data on hand or a willingness to help sort out some of the details?

 

[Rolfe]

No, it's just you give it 11 hours after starting a completely new hare, and expect action?

It's an extremely interesting point, but I don't have any instant responses.

Rolfe.

 

[Caustic Logic]

No, it's just you give it 11 hours after starting a completely new hare, and expect action?

It's an extremely interesting point, but I don't have any instant responses.

Rolfe.

Well, a quick post like that would have eased my anxiety. Not that anyone has any responsibility to do that.

I didn't intend that first post to be easy or wortwhile to absorb. It was more of a "whoa, this is crazy" intro to stimulate the slower exploration and absorption then.

I was musing on when (and why) the investigators actively abandoned the idea of pinning this on the PFLP-GC, and wondering which thread to clutter up with the subject. Might get to it in this one.

That's maybe its own thread if it's to get real detailed, but delving into it would fit here, as the Abu Elias angle feeds into that larger picture.

For some quick reasons why, we have the motive and its grievance being so darn good and awkward for the U.S. It would be best to NOT be in a tit-for-tat with Iran where the IA655 incident was answered with Lockerbie. That leg needed amputated, and a new one would have to be grown.

For reasons closer to the issue at hand, we've already been aware of the embarrassing fact that the bomb maker did his work on Jordanian intelligence's payroll. He enjoyed protection from them and the CIA, etc. Nobody wants that to be the maker of THAT bomb.

As a side note, another close associate in the group, "Ramzi Diab," was reportedly responsible for bringing in the Semtex for the bombs from Yugoslavia (IIRC). He was arrested in the big bust, released, and fled to Syria where Jibril reportedly had him killed, following a tribunal, for being a mole for Mossad within that important Neuss cell.

Back to Jordanian mole within the same cell - previously I had a hard time reconciling Khreesat's supposed orders to not arm any of his bombs with the fact that all four of those found were armed to the teeth. According to some sources, "Abu Elias" is the reason for that. Ludwig deBraeckeleer:

] The 25 years old blond Palestinian heads the military section of the PFLP-GC in Damascus. The presence of Elias in Germany will force Khreesat to make functional bombs contrary to the instructions he received from his Jordan Intelligence handlers.

"Elias" had reportedly inspected Khreesat's work before, when he made five Bombeat IEDs for Jibril in 1985 (just to practice, he says to Marshman).
And according the Khreesat, he was also to handle getting the bomb onto a plane. Both he and one (or two?) of the bombs disappeared. Two brown Samsonites wound up in the lower left corner of AVE4041 before the German feeder, and some kind of brown Samsonite blew up in that corner 38 minutes after takeoff from Heathrow.

And reportedly, the guy who was supposed to have done that was given assylum and a government job in Washington DC. This is an amazing allegation, and one worth looking at closer. If it can be debunked, it should be. For the moment though I have to be on the proponent side.

 

[Buncrana]

Sorry folks, I've been really busy recently and so thoughts and opinions etc have been scarce. Not that I've not been giving the issue on Gauci and other related topics some thought, just not anything really new or worthwhile. Hopefully, things will settle somewhat soon, and I can give some areas a little more time to examine fuller and discuss.

I've definiitely heard and read about Elias before CL, and yes, it's another interesting point which is sufficiently important to be discussed further. Sadly, together with the other mountainous amounts of theories and strange tales associated around 103, the aspects surrounding Elias's possible/probable involvement with Khreesat and intelligence agencies (not to mention Jaafar supposedly) and it's finer details, is not something I'm that familiar with. Certainly not enough (yet) to provide a reasoned and objective reply to your interesting OP.

Hopefully I can add something more substantial to this and the other related discussions very soon.

 

[commandlinegamer]

I thought I read about this guy a couple of months back from one of the links on Robert Black's blog. But the claims that he was linked the bombing and he's now living comfortably in Washington seem to take it into the realms of CT territory.

 

[Rolfe]

There are quite a few CTs surrounding the Lockerbie disaster. That's sort of why we're discussing it in this section.

The basic, obvious conclusion from the evidence is that they got the wrong guy for the bombing. That doesn't make it a CT, any more than any other wrongful conviction is a CT. What makes it a CT is firstly, any suggestion that the miscarriage of justice was a deliberate frame-up, as opposed to simply pinning it on someone who happened to be handy in order to get a conviction, and secondly, the resulting speculation about well, who did do it then?

Rolfe.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Buncrana, CLG, thanks for the quick comments yourself. Sorry to make anyone say sorry. It's definitely interesting, but the rest of the world is always taking time and energy. I've been somewhat the same lately, and a little burnt out on it all. But I managed to grab this one firmly enough to get excited again, though still under (a few) other pressures.

I thought I read about this guy a couple of months back from one of the links on Robert Black's blog. But the claims that he was linked the bombing and he's now living comfortably in Washington seem to take it into the realms of CT territory.

Indeed, this is more wacked out and a little more convoluted/unclear than most of the other points we've covered. I skipped it before because I'm not as good with "human intelligence." Terrorist names, aliases, alleged connections, confessions and false ones, intrigue, mystery, annoyance... I'd rather look at scorched metal and timer chunks and printouts...

So I was hoping someone had half a book written up already on this alleged guy who, as Baz echoed, really reminds one of Keyser Soze of the Usual Suspects for mystery. Otherwise, I'm not going totally ape myself, but digging for more on that 1992 PLO report. Maybe a way to get an actual copy as primary source evidence.

Alright, thanks for taking a minute, each of yas. I'll be back with something.

ETA: Which ministry would be the best to ask?
http://www.un.int/palestine/PAinstitutions.shtml

 

[Caustic Logic]

Hello, all. I've finally got a blog post up about this:

http://lockerbiedivide.blogspot.com/2010/03/where-in-world-is-abu-elias.html

Soooo, if I'm reading all this right, and it's a big if at this point, the Jordanian double-agent tried to make fake (unarmed) bombs, but was squeezed to make them real by (eventual) American asset "Abu Elias" and armed the Semtex supplied by an alleged Mossad mole. ...

​

Oh, and the original PFLP-GC contact Ramzi Diab went to for the explosives was Mobdi Goben, who seems legit enough (no double-agenting I'm aware of), but later spouted some distracting nonsense about Elias as doing, essentially, just what Trail of the Octopus said happened.

I'm curious about this supposed deathbed confession. There's no info on Goben around. He was arrested in Yugo along with Autumn Leaves. Don't know if he died. Or when. The memo only makes news AFAIK during the trial in later 2000. Seems to have stalled procedings while the defense tried to get a copy, but never did.

But by now we have sooo many reasons to suspect the man to have left town and sidled into London for the deed. And he skipped the chance elements and placed the bomb(s) directly in the lower outboard corner of a luggage container AVE4041.

(or so it seems)

Now he does parent-teacher meetings and dines his wife at Olive Garden on Fridays?

ETA: And there I'll let it sit for a bit. I'll be doing other stuff tomorrow or so. Might be a good time for anyone to help remind us what's speculation vs. proof and how we know Megrahi did it, any valid questions about these amazing but tenuous allegations, etc.

---

 

[Rolfe]

Ahmed Jibril, Abu Talb, Marwan Khreesat, Hafez Dalkamoni, Mobi Goben, Abu Elias, Khaisar Haddad....

I can't keep them straight.

D'you think that's why they want after Megrahi? Easier?

Rolfe.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Ahmed Jibril, Abu Talb, Marwan Khreesat, Hafez Dalkamoni, Mobi Goben, Abu Elias, Khaisar Haddad....

I can't keep them straight.

D'you think that's why they want after Megrahi? Easier?

Rolfe.

They didn't even need Fhimah. Just Megrahi, a little wine, moonlight and magic, and suddenly they've almost got Col. Ghaddafy himself.

I've got a few minutes, since it's clearly interesting but still confusing. I'm good with names, but not so much people and sorting them out, or believing or caring what we read about them. Nonetheless, I've got the main parts of the group down - my sources are varied, hard to cite, a few details, feel free to double-check.

PFLP-GC: Popular Friggin Longname Palestinians - General Command, tasked with carrying out the bombing. They set up a cell in Neuss, West Germany in early October 1988 to arrange it from.

Ahmed Jibril - terrorist visionary and leader, PFLP-GC founder, head honcho. Wanted an American plane downed to fulfill the contract with Mohtashemi and the Iranians.

"Abu Elias" - Jibril's nephew (?) and (???) see above and below. Avoided arrest, obviously. To add, he had been based in Sweden I hear, and had some links to Abu Talb. Quite important.

Abu Talb - Mohammed Abu Talb - supposed reformed terrorist, PFLP-GC links, somehow linked to "Abu Elias." Jailed in Sweden for minor unrelated bombings, onetime Megrahi stand-in (had Maltese clothes, an ID by Tony Gauci, links to the Neuss gang, etc.) He may have supplied the clothes in the bomb suitcase, but was probably not Gauci's mystery shopper, who might just not exist.

Hafez Dalkamouni - Jibril's high-level deputy in charge of the Neuss operation. Arrested in Frankfurt with Khreesat and a bomb. Held in jail for plotting. Later, I don't know... he's a little peripheral here so far.

Marwan Khreesat - PFLP-GC's contracted bomb-maker. It seems likely that none of his bombs were used, and only his altimeter modifications on a device already made by "Abu Elias." Khreesat was working for Jordanian intelligence, but didn't seem to help stop anything. Arrested in Frankfurt with Dalkamouni and one airliner bomb, released to Jordan, there since.

"Ramzi Diab" - alias for Salah Kwikas, b. 1959, Nazareth. Brought the Semtex from Goben in Yugoslavia. Arrested in Frankfurt, released for lack of evidence. Returned to Syria, tried and executed by Jibril on suspicion of Israeli mole. Others also thought that, and that he called in the Oct 26 raid. (Emerson and Duffy, p 262)

Mobdi Goben - aka Abu Fouad, "The Professor." b Haifa, 1943. PFLP-GC safe house operator, Krucevac, Yugoslavia, and doled out locally-made Semtex-H. I think Khreesat passed through it prior to Germany. Diab picked up the explosives in mid-October for Khreesat's work. Goben was arrested at the safe house in November 1988. Not sure from there, died maybe mid-2000? His memo is not on the level, I suspect.

Others while we're at it:
Abdel Ghadanfar - responsible for the huge weapons cache found on the arrests in Frankfurt. These were for training he said. Largest ever weapons bust in Germany. He was not released right away - they had evidence.

Martin Kadourah – arrested later in Yugoslavia, released after questioning in Germany. Role unsure.

Adnan Younis - one-eyed pizza maker, terrorist, exploding pens. Arrested in Frankfurt, released for lack of evidence.

Hope that helps a little more than it confuses.

 

[Rolfe]

Um, sort of helps....

One of the odd things about the Camp Zeist trial was that beforehand we were all told that it would be revealed in court "in excruciating detail" exactly how the bomb was sourced and constructed, where and when and how and by whom, as well as how it was smuggled on board the plane. None of that was mentioned at all though. The prosecution simply asserted "he must have done it", and that was that.

The diffculty they had was that Malta is an island, so was the bomb constructed on the island? If so, where, how and by whom, and where did the materials come from? Smuggling materials is obviously possible, but it all does rather imply a bomb-making factory of some sort on the island itself. That's Malta, you know, a developed Christian western European country, part of the British Commonwealth and now a member of the EU. Lots of assertions that the authorities of the entire island were nevertheless in the pocket of Libya, but no evidence led to that effect.

Alternatively, could the entire shebang have been built in Libya and smuggled intact into Malta? Maybe so, though air smuggling would be risky even if the bomb was disarmed. Presumably there are ships....

However, the assertion was that Megrahi and Fhimah built the bomb in the LAA offices in Malta. The Maltese Double Cross showed the offices, and Fhimah pointed out that there were Maltese employees in and out all the time and there was no real privacy there, where were they supposed to have built this bomb anyway? And neither of them were ever shown to have any form in handling explosives of building bombs or anything like that. And frankly Megrahi was high enough up the pecking order you'd not have expected him to be doing that himself.

Oh but of course he wasn't acting alone, was he? Well, no, but in spite of the assertions that if we convicted him he'd lead us to the rest of the gang, no other possible suspect has ever even been named.

Then compare the PFLP-GC. A fair-sized gang all with form as long as your arm, previous successes in blowing up airliners and so on. We know where the bomb-making factory was, we know who the bomb-maker was (and when he took a shower!). About the only thing we don't know is who smuggled the bomb on the plane and how. And we don't know that about the Megrahi theory either.

Of course, part of Megrahi's original defence was a "special defence of incrimination", meaning that he's going to lead evidence to show that someone else did it. I don't know how definite this evidence has to be, but I'd assume it just has to be a "balance of probabilities" thing.

So they brought Abu Talb to Camp Zeist, and put him in the witness box, and he said "it wisnae me". They had someone interview Marwan Khreesat, safe in his no-extradition zone (even though he was a CIA asset), and he said "it wisnae me". Didn't Mandy Rice-Davies have a pertinent comment on that?

However, the defence apparently dropped the special incrimination thing, amid major recriminations and one of the Scots advocates quitting the case. Something to do with Libyan interference. One of Kochler's criticisms of the court proceedings was something about pressure on the accused to drop that part of his defence.

Odd, that.

Rolfe.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Sorry for the delay. Now it's me flaking out. But I got my main computer back yesterday, and then threw my back out. (probable relation - it's a heavy machine). So I'm getting back on track slower than I meant to.

On the above, totally. I've never wanted to believe Dallyal's "Faustian Bargain" theory, but ... well,as you say, we've got a list of suspects, motive, means, opportunity (the break-in and permeability of interline sheds at Heathrow), forensic matches, etc. Heck, even with the wrinkle I added by recognizing a likely matching set in Bedford's report might fit the evidence fine, even with the second one holding another bomb.

The offical story, on the other hand, does nothing with time and scrutiny but fall apart like soggy corn flakes.

On "Abu Elias," I also put up a post about the Goben emo. There's not a whole lot else I could find outside the transcripts, but now that I've got all my files and projects back, I'm compilling the instances I find and will be back with that later.

Oh, and the appeal docs I looked at also don't mention "Elias." I thought it was supposed to be a key plank? Hmmm...

 

[Caustic Logic]

Pierre Salinger

Well, most of the talk of Elias and the Goben memo in the transcripts is the Defense asking for time to get a copy, over several days in late Nov/early Dec . That part is too boring to sort out ATM, but I might have an answer to who it was handed it over to the Court (unless I'm missing something else) - Pierre Salinger, who comes into this story but not our discussion here yet. I just now learned of Salnger syndrome... how appropos.

Anyway, here's just a huge chunk of his sort of amusing discussion on Abu Elias - Day 72, Pierre Salinger, witness 1039, who has interviewed Khreesat around the same time FBI was able to do the same. First under exam by the defense.

Little clues: Yugoslavia, Sandy Berger, holding papers, etc...

Q All right. There is just one matter I want to raise with you concerning that interview. In 1989, during the course of this interview, is it correct that Marwan Khreesat referred to someone by the name of Abu Elias?
A Yes, he did.
Q And did he refer to him in connection with the activities of a Mr. Dalkamoni in Germany in late 1988?
A Dalkamoni was in Germany, but Dalkamoni was the first person that -- when Ahmed Jibril was told by the Iranians that he had to bomb an American
8884
plane, that Dalkamoni went to Iran to meet with that group and then come back and get them going.
Q I see. But is it correct that Abu Elias was referred to by Marwan Khreesat in connection with the activities of Mr. Dalkamoni?
A Well, Mr. Dalkamoni was in touch with Mr. Khreesat when he was doing some work on bombing in Syria, and that was something that that name came up with because he was going to come and do a test on what Khreesat was doing.

Q I see. Now, were you given any information --
A Abu Elias.
Q Were you given any information as to where Abu Elias was going to be coming from?
A I don't know where he was from, but at one point, when Marwan Khreesat was in Germany, he was told by -- that Abu Elias was coming to Germany to see him. That's -- Dalkamoni did that. But that didn't work. And so when all these people got arrested -- you remember that?
Q Well, before you go any further, I don't want to explore hearsay. I just want to be clear: The name "Abu Elias" was mentioned by Marwan Khreesat at
8885
the time you interviewed him in November 1989; is that correct?
A Correct.
Q And it was mentioned in connection with the activities of Dalkamoni, amongst others?
A Correct.

Q Did you subsequently make inquiries in Yugoslavia with regard to Abu Elias?
A Did I make a request in Yugoslavia?
Q Did you subsequently make inquiries in Yugoslavia in connection with Abu Elias.
A No. But I -- this is something very interesting.
Q Well, before you go further, again, I just want to stick to your direct knowledge. You don't recollect making any inquiries in Yugoslavia concerning Abu Elias?
A I made questions in Yugoslavia. I've got papers that were given to the National Security Council and -- by Sandy Berger. That's the most important thing that I gave him. And when these lawyers came to Washington and asked me to get those papers back, they refused to give them.
Q I see. So you say that you recovered certain papers from Yugoslavia which you handed over to
8886
the National Security Council?
A Correct.
Q And they still have those papers?
A They still have those papers.
Q Thank you. No further questions, My Lords.

RE-EXAMINATION BY MR. TURNBULL:
Q Can I just ask you, please, one other thing about your interview with Mr. Khreesat.
[…] Did Mr. Khreesat tell you that he went to Germany and met up with Dalkamoni and others?
8887
A Well, that was something that – when they were moving to do something very strong, Dalkamoni first had him go to Yugoslavia. But then that person was not there at that time, so that --

Q Mr. Salinger, do you have something in your hands at the moment?
A Well, I don't -- I forget names.
Q What do you have in your hands? Are you looking at some notes or something?
A Well, I've got huge papers here, but --
Q I think, perhaps, if you just put those to one side for the moment.
A Yeah. But I am just giving that name that you told me. That name that you asked me, to meet with him.
Q Well, just put the papers to one side and listen to the questions I am about to ask you, please.
A Yes. What's the question again?
Q The question is, did Mr. Khreesat explain to you that he went to Germany and met with Mr. Dalkamoni and others?
A Yes, he did go to Germany --
Q Thank you?
A -- with Dalkamoni, but he was going to
8888
go to Yugoslavia first.
…

MR. TURNBULL:
Q Did he tell you if he was reporting back to Jordanian intelligence, Mr. Salinger?
A Yes, because you see, what happened was
8889
he became working for Ahmed Jibril in 1967, you know that war, that Six Day War, because --

Q Let's just stop there for a moment. All I want to know is if he told you that he was reporting back to Jordanian intelligence. And is the answer to that yes?
A Yes.
Q All right. Thank you.
LORD SUTHERLAND: Thank you very much, Mr. Salinger. That's all.
A That's all? You're not letting me tell the truth. Wait a minute. They're not letting me tell the truth. I know exactly who did it. I know exactly how it was done. You have to do that here.
LORD SUTHERLAND: Mr. Salinger, we will run the court in accordance with our normal principles. We rely upon counsel in this court to ask the questions that they think are relevant, and we will deal with that information. If you wish to make a point somewhere, you may do so elsewhere, but I'm afraid you may not do so in this court. All right?
A Okay.
LORD SUTHERLAND: Thank you. Advocate Depute.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Well there must be more info out there, as I just found another name that was mentioned last year Baz tipped me off that Grahame had dropped a name already for Elias/Haddad's new identity, and then I found it: Basel Bushnaq. Here'sone article. Anyone else feel free to google it, and so on.

http://www.channel4.com/news/articl...s+megrahi+really+the+lockerbie+bomber/3329697

Again, it could be a huge mix-up, a pusposeful distraction, or massive festering clue of the US acquisition and re-branding of the PA103 plot.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Bump.

Also, for those who haven't, please check the link in the post abpvethis and watch the video. It's good stuff.

Also, above I was mixed up on at least one point - Ramzi Diab. I’d thought he had come in from Yugoslavia with the Semtex but that doesn’t seem to be supported by anything. Instead:
"Dalkamouni said the explosives had been smuggled into West Germany from a ‘safe house’ in Yugoslavia by Martin Kadorah, a Palestinian who lived in Frankfurt.” [Leppard p 10]

Diab rather seems to have been involved in bringing in one of the Toshiba radios and, more tenuously, leaving with one. That is, similar to what Abu Elias was supposed to be doing.
"Dalkamouni said he was given the second Toshiba on about 18 October by a man called Ramzi Diab in Frankfurt. It also contained two pressure boxes, two clocks and two platinum lates. Diab, Dalkamouni said, was a member of the military section of the PFLP-GC." [Lep p 10]
“One witness, a student called German Hock, said he had seen Diab leaving Frankfurt on a train to Vienna. Under his arm was a Toshiba radio.” [Lepp p 13]

That last is problematic - Hock is actually Hoch, Diab's German teacher (perhaps also a student). It's an unusual thing to see unless one was involved closely. Oh... according to the transcripts (day 76, p 9358) Hoch was close enough to be arrested in the Autumn Leaves raid, like Diab and nine others, released the following day, October 27.

Hmmm...

 

[Rolfe]

Sorry I haven't been responding to this - it's a very interesting aspect, but I'm a bit pushed for time at the moment. It would be good if anyone else could chip in with any information they have.

Rolfe.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Sorry I haven't been responding to this - it's a very interesting aspect, but I'm a bit pushed for time at the moment. It would be good if anyone else could chip in with any information they have.

Rolfe.

Well, I wish someone else would offer something, too. But in the meantime, I've been gathering more info and sorting it out.

Analysis of names Abu Elias, Khaisar Haddad and Basel Bushnaq.
http://lockerbiedivide.blogspot.com/2010/04/whats-in-name.html
In short, Bushnaq means "Bosnian" in Arabic, and the only Arabic name I've ever seen with "Bush" in it. Basel can mean brave in Arabic, or in English a variant of Basil, or kingly. Interesting given that his previous name was almost Kaiser. Little clues... Interesting patterns, but quite subjective, not far above reading horroscopes.


Khreesat, Abu Elias, and the fifth device:
http://lockerbiedivide.blogspot.com/2010/04/just-passing-magic-touch-and-rest.html
from Marshman's report on Khreesat, to sort out the alleged relation between these two. It seems likely that Abu Elias did build the fifth device, not Khreesat, and it seems Khreesat believed at the time that bomb blew up PA103.

Some other bits I'm not ready to publish yet. It gets spooky at times. Basel's been posting online with that name since May 2004 at the latest. Some weird patterns in what he discusses and how...

Anyone else care to weigh in on what we've covered here? What is and isn't proved, what should I be doing with this besides blogging? Debunker-type insights would be helpful at this point. Lockerbie bomber possibly living in Reston, VA. What's wrong with that?