Part 64 – SEPTEMBER 4 1988
'A reward was paid out in the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 case.' - US State Department Official
The name of the man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am 103 has been mysteriously removed from the REWARDS FOR JUSTICE US Website. [1] Fortunately, a copy of the page as previously displayed had been saved. [2]
In early October 2007, OMNI reported that huge amounts of money were offered by US officials to at least three key witnesses. The defense was never told that the CIA had offered millions of dollars to their star witnesses. Both the FBI and CIA denied ever having offered money to any of the witnesses.
'I cannot speak for the CIA but I believe they had no access to witnesses. But [speaking for the FBI] I can say that no one was ever offered any money for testimony. The FBI does not operate that way,' Marquise, the former FBI leading investigator, told me.
'This issue came up at trial and I spoke with the defense lawyers about it in Edinburgh in 1999 -- before trial. No one was promised or even told that they could get money for saying anything. Every FBI agent was under specific orders not to mention money to any potential witness.'
Jeff Stein is the national security editor of the Congressional Quarterly Web site, CQ Politics. In response to Stein's query, a CIA spokesperson ridiculed a witness's accusations that it offered or paid him anything.
'It may disappoint the conspiracy buffs, but the CIA doesn't belong in your story,' a CIA spokesperson said, insisting on anonymity. The witness is none other than Edwin Bollier whose company is accused of having sold the timer that detonated the bomb on Pan Am 103.
An FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Stein that the bureau met with Bollier in Washington in 1991, but denied he was offered anything to implicate Libya. Marquise told me he attended the meeting.
In a formal statement, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko emphatically rejected any suggestions of a payoff.
'Any accusations that any witness was paid to lie are complete fabrications and these ridiculous statements should be immediately discounted as the untruths they are,' Kolko said. 'That is not the way the FBI operates.'
However, a source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Stein that a key witness, Tony Gauci, and his brother were paid somewhere between $3 to $4 million for providing information leading to the conviction of Megrahi.
The US State Department acknowledged to Stein that rewards were paid. 'A reward was paid out in the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 case,' a spokesperson there said on condition of anonymity, 'but due to operational and security concerns we are not disclosing details regarding specific amounts, sources or types of assistance the sources provided.'
This writer asked the REWARDS FOR JUSTICE program contact person why the name of Megrahi had vanished from their website. I received a reply but the email does not address my question.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1.
Rewards for Justice
2. Rewards for Justice
SEEKING INFORMATION AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
Success Stories
Rewards for Justice has paid more than $72 million to over 50 people who have provided information that prevented international terrorist attacks or brought to justice those involved in prior acts.
As a result of this information, the following individuals, among many others, have been brought to justice.
Uday Hussein
Qusay Hussein
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef
Mir Aimal Kansi
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi
Hamsiraji Sali
Toting Craft Hanno
Muhsin Khadr al-Khafaji
Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad
Muhammad Zimam Abd al-Razzaq al-Sadun
RUSHING]http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DC1E3BF937A3575AC0A96E948260'>RUSHING[/url] TO (MIS) JUDGMENT - , September 4, 1988
