  
| 
| ||||||||||||
'Jazeera bomb' leak: 2 in UK courtFrom CNN's Jonathan Wald  Al-Jazeera employees protest at the channel's office in Doha last week. QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLONDON, England (CNN) -- Two men appeared in court Tuesday for the first time after being charged with leaking a top secret memo which, according to a British newspaper, showed U.S. President George W. Bush considered bombing Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar. The Daily Mirror reported that during an April 2004 meeting at the White House, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair persuaded Bush not to attack the satellite channel. David Keogh, who was working as a civil servant in the British Cabinet Office, is accused of sending a confidential government file -- originating in Blair's office -- to Leo O'Connor, who worked as a researcher for a member of Parliament, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said. The MP then handed the document back to Blair's office. The charges allege both men "made a damaging disclosure of a document relating to international relations." During a 15-minute court hearing, Keogh, 49, and O'Connor, 42, gave their personal details and O'Connor indicated he intends to plead not guilty. Speaking after the hearing, Neil Clark, who represents O'Connor, said his client "felt that he didn't do anything wrong in returning the document to a person whom he knew would be able to get it back to the appropriate, originating department." The prosecuting attorney asked the judge to forbid the defendants from communicating with one another as one of the conditions of their remaining free on bail. Clark said this request was made because "the prosecutor has suggested that they have changed their accounts since they were arrested." "As far as my client is concerned we do not accept that position," Clark said. He said he had not seen the document that was said to have been leaked and was not aware of its contents, as police have asked O'Connor not to disclose them to anyone. "I hope it will be disclosed to me," Clark said. "It needs to be disclosed because it's impossible to defend unless you know the case that you're facing." As Keogh left the court, he declined comment. Keogh's lawyer, Tom Baker, told CNN, "My contact with the case has been minimal." Baker gave no further comment. After the Daily Mirror published its report, a White House official told CNN, "We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response." A Pentagon official called the report "absolutely absurd." Blair was asked by a British lawmaker in a written question "what information he received on action that the United States administration proposed to take against the Al-Jazeera television channel." In a written response, Blair gave the one-word answer "none." Britain's attorney general has warned other media that they can be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act if they reveal further details of the memo. The Daily Mirror reported that Bush was angered by Al-Jazeera's coverage of the April 2004 uprising in the western Iraqi city of Falluja, where U.S. Marines were dispatched to restore order after four American security guards had been killed and mutilated by insurgents. Executives at Al-Jazeera have called upon the British and American governments to confirm or deny the allegations about their headquarters being a possible target. The Arabic network said if the report was borne out, it "would cast serious doubts" on U.S. statements that previous strikes on Al-Jazeera facilities were accidental. In 2001, Al-Jazeera's Kabul office was hit by U.S. bombs and in 2003, Al-Jazeera reporter Tareq Ayyoub was killed when a U.S. missile hit his office in Baghdad. Keogh and O'Connor's case has been adjourned until January 10. 
|
| ||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
