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Blair Govt. Wins Ruling to Hold Al Jazeera Memo Trial in Secret

HeadlineOct 11, 2006

And finally, in Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government has won a motion to hold a secret trial for two men accused of leaking a memo detailing a conversation in which President Bush reportedly says he wants to bomb the headquarters of the Arabic television network Al Jazeera in Doha. The memo was revealed a year ago next month. David Keogh, a former civil servant, and Leo O’Connor, a former parliamentary researcher, are charged with leaking the memo in violation of the Official Secrets Act. On Monday, a British judge sided with the government’s argument that publicly disclosing the memo’s contents would harm British national security because it would have a “detrimental impact” on “diplomatic and political relations” with the US. Mark Stephens, the chief lawyer for al-Jazeera, said: “The bottom line is that there is no national security involvement [in the case]. What is being protected from us is evidence of a war crime.” The secret trial is expected to start in April.

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