The mainstream media for the most part has moved on. But there are a few more gleanings to be had, of perhaps the most interesting comes from the Daily Mirror, which labels al-Hilli an extremist on the grounds that he was against the war in Iraq, disapproved of the behaviour of Israel and had doubts over 9/11 – which makes a great deal of the population “extremist”. But the Mirror has the only mainstream mention I can find of the possibility that Mossad carried out the killings. Given Mr al-Hilli’s profession, the fact he is a Shia, the fact he had visited Iran, and the fact that Israel heas been assassinating scientists connected to Iran’s nuclear programme, this has to be a possibility. There are of course other possibilities, but to ignore that one is ludicrous.
Which leads me to the argument of Daily Mail crime reporter, Stephen Wright, that the French police should concentrate on the idea that this was a killing by a random Alpine madman or racist bigot. Perfectly possible, of course, and the anti-Muslim killings in Marseille might be as much a precedent as Mossad killings of scientists. But why the lone madman idea should be the preferred investigation, Mr Wright does not explain. What I did find interesting from a man who has visited many crime scenes are his repeated insinuations that the French authorities are not really trying very hard to find who the killers were, for example:
the crime scene would have been sealed off for a minimum of seven to ten days, to allow detailed forensic searches for DNA, fibres, tyre marks and shoe prints to take place.
Nearby bushes and vegetation would have been searched for any discarded food and cigarette butts left by the killer, not to mention the murder weapon.
But from what I saw at the end of last week, no such searches had taken place and potentially vital evidence could have been missed. House to house inquiries in the local area had yet to be completed and police had not made specific public appeals for information about the crime. No reward had been put up for information about the shootings.
Behind the scenes, what other short cuts have been taken? Have police seized data identifying all mobile phones being used in the vicinity of the murders that day?
The idea that the French authorities – who are quite as capable as any other of solving cases – are not really trying very hard is an interesting one.
Which leads me to this part of a remarkable article from the Daily Telegraph, which if true points us back towards a hit squad and discounts the ides that there was only one gun:
Claims that only one gun was used to kill everybody is likely to be disproved by full ballistics test results which are out in October.
While the 25 spent bullet cartridges found at the scene are all of the same kind, they could in fact have come from a number of weapons of the same make.
This throws up the possibility of a well-equipped, highly-trained gang circling the car and then opening fire.
Both children were left alive by the killers, who had clinically pumped bullets into everybody else, including five into Mr Mollier.
Zainab was found staggering around outside the car by Brett Martin, a British former RAF serviceman who cycled by moments after the attack, but he saw nobody except the schoolgirl.
Her sister, Zeena, was found unscathed and hiding in the car eight hours later.
Both sisters are now back in Britain, and are believed to have been reunited at a secret location near London.
There are of course a number of hit squad options, both governmental and private, which might well involve iraqi or Iranian interests – on both of which the mainstream media have been very happy to speculate while almost unanimously ignoring Israel.
But what interests me is why the Daily Telegraph choose, in the face of all the evidence, to minimise the horrific nature of the attack by stating that “Both children were left alive by the killers”? Zainab was not left alive by design, she was shot in the chest and her skull was stove in, which presumably was a pretty serious attempt to kill a seven year-old child. The other girl might very well have succeeded in hiding from the killers under her mother’s skirts, as she hid from the first rescuers, and then for eight hours from the police.
The Telegraph article claims to be informed by sources close to the investigation. So they believe it was a group of people, and feel motivated to absolve those people from child-killing. Now what could the Daily Telegraph be thinking?
FWIW, from a media outlet which employs a certain THF:
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/03/03/gordon-duff-israel-intervenes-in-libya-for-gaddafi/
A model from Israel shared her opinion:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57507903/israeli-model-seeks-to-free-qaddafi-son/
Or is that “model”?
Interesting BLUEBIRD.
I did not know a great deal about that at all.
What I did know a little about was his killing by the IRA.
It was unusual.
The IRA didnot attack targets across the border (Mainland and N.I were the norm).
Warrenpoint was a major operation that day.
There was an agreement between the IRA and British Govt that “The Royals” were of limits. (there was a dialogue between the both parties for many years).
There was no “gain” in the murder of Mountbatten in the context of the IRA’s campaign against The Brit’s in N.I.
Infact it probably did them more damage in the eyes of The Republic.
So…all in all, it was a very unusual target…for the IRA that is.
The Dutch camper who was quoted in the media about Saad al-Hilli had the name Jan Jannsen. This was the source of the “Balkan man” information. The name Jan Jannsen sounds like a “John Smith” to me, however, bear in mind that a big cycling event was taking place in the Annecy region at the time:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9534403/France-shooting-Murdered-Briton-was-acting-strangely-in-days-before-attack.html
http://www.anorak.co.uk/332946/news/the-lake-annecy-murders-what-annemarie-souderman-saw.html/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Janssen
The retired cyclist had a French sponsor during his racing years.
I can’t recall if we discussed this in the past. However, it could be relevant to the current discussion.
At MZT there is some slight new news.
1. A link to one new pic of SAH.
2. Description of a very recent French radio or TV show on Chevaline – nothing new there.
3. One commenter who has noted the disappearance and now reappearance, five months later, of web pages, mostly social media, and mostly involving SM’s family, who are not named.
http://www.marilynztomlins.com/articles/the-chevaline-shootings-saad-al-hilli-sylvain-mollier-brett-martin-philippe-didierjean-and-xavier-baligant/
More on retired Tour de France winner Jan Jannsen:
http://redkiteprayer.com/2011/08/excerpt-cyclings-heroes%e2%80%94jan-janssen-part-i/
http://redkiteprayer.com/2011/08/excerpt-cycling-heroes%e2%80%94jan-janssen-part-ii/
http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.janjanssen.nl/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Djan%2Bjanssen%2Bbicycles%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1600%26bih%3D703&sa=X&ei=hu4sUeX5O43wigLvi4GADA&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQ7gEwAQ
His son is also Jan Jannsen. Would either of them have been staying at a campground?
Another thought: motorcycles would have been everywhere in the Annecy region at the time, given their use in cycling competitions.
Mountbatten was Governor of the Isle of Wight from 20 July 1965 And the first Lord Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight from 1 April 1974.
The 1st of April ! (I had to laugh).
And now we know that “Jimmy” was knocking around on the Isle of Wight.
UN staffer missing from Golan Heights is a Canadian adviser By JTA02/26/2013 19:20VANCOUVER, Canada – A United Nations staffer who went missing along the Syria-Israel border is a Canadian legal adviser to the commander of the U.N. mission on the Golan Heights, a source who says he met with the missing man told JTA.
Media reports have identified the missing staff member as a legal adviser to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. The United Nations has confirmed a member is missing from the peacekeeping force.”We can confirm that a staff member is not accounted for and we are in touch with the relevant parties to determine what has happened,” UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said Monday. http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=304622
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced Tuesday that the Palestinians were expecting an international inquiry into the “assassination” of Palestinian detainee Arafat Jaradat in Israeli prison last weekend.
“Palestine has officially requested an international commission of inquiry into the death of Jaradat,” Abbas declared.
Related:
Abbas: Israel is murdering our children
US calls on Israelis, PA to exercise restraint
Abbas told members of the PLO Executive Committee during a meeting in Ramallah that a Palestinian forensic expert had already determined that Jaradat died as a realist of torture.
“Now we are waiting for an international commission of inquiry to find out how Jaradat was assassinated in prison,” he said.
Abbas said that the Palestinians were facing an “unprecedented Israeli escalation targeting teenagers and children protesting against practices of the occupation and settlers, especially against Palestinian detainees.”
Abbas condemned Israel for rearresting Palestinians who had been released in exchange for IDF soldier Gilad Schalit. “We don’t know what are the dangerous security offenses they committed to be returned to prison,” he added.
Abbas said that the current protests in the West Bank were in response to Israeli “assaults” on youths and the continued imprisonment of Palestinians.http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=304605
Rather strange that. I had an e-mail with a news story from the Jerusalem Post regarding a break-in at the top Israeli Nuc Scientist. Being the suspicious person I am I wondered if I should open it. I did but then decided against it. Could this be a trojan horse? So I closed it and did a google search and brought up the JP – hence those two posts above – but no sign of that break-in story. BB is it possible a “foreign agency” could get access to my comp via an e mail like that?
Iranians ‘confess’ to nuclear scientist murders on state television
Channel shows purported confessions by more than a dozen suspects in connection with the killing of five nuclear scientists
Associated Press in Tehran
guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 August 2012 13.27
BSTIranian state television on Sunday broadcast purported confessions by more than a dozen suspects in connection with the killing of five nuclear scientists since 2010.
The broadcast showed some of the suspects re-enacting the assassinations in different districts of the capital, Tehran. The 14 suspects shown on TV included eight men and six women.
The TV showed pictures from a military garrison it said was a training camp outside Tel Aviv in Israel. It said the suspects took courses there, including how to place magnetic bombs on cars – the method used in the killing of the scientists.
Iran says the attacks are part of a covert campaign by Israel and the west to sabotage its nuclear programme, which the US and its allies suspect is aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Iran denies that.
Iran’s intelligence chief, Heidar Moslehi, had promised recently to provide detailed TV pictures about the case.
Iran has blamed the Mossad as well as the CIA and MI6 for the assassinations, with support from some of Iran’s neighbours. The US and Britain have denied involvement in the killings. Israel has not commented.
The TV report said CCTV in a Tehran street recorded one of the operations, providing clues for Iran’s intelligence agencies to identify and arrest the suspects.
One of the suspects, Behzad Abdoli, claimed that he received training in Israel, along with several others.
“I entered Turkey and then was taken to Cyprus by ship. From there, I entered Israel and [then] Tel Aviv … They [Israelis] said that this group is being supported financially by the US and Israel,” he said.
Another suspect, Arash Kheradkish, said he received training in attaching magnetic bombs to moving cars.
“There was a motorcycle racing complex [in Tel Aviv] where we received training. We were told we needed to improve our skills so that we would be able to attach magnetised bombs to moving cars … We were given time bombs that we had to push the start button when we attached it,” he said.
“At the end of the training course, members [of the group] were given money. They arranged our return [to Iran].”
The broadcast said Jamali Fashi and Arash Kheradkish got the highest grades during training in Tel Aviv and were chosen to lead the operations.
Maziar Ebrahimi, another suspect, said there were three groups involved in the bombings: two on a motorbike, a car driving in front to slow the target car and a third support team waiting nearby to help if necessary.
“The assassination control room was in Tel Aviv, but it was receiving the orders from Washington and London,” the TV report said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/06/iranians-confess-nuclear-scientist-murders
If you don’t want to read the whole thing the last couple of paragraphs will do.
“Iran nuclear scientist’s death followed Israeli warning of ‘unnatural’ events
Killing of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan and Israeli military chief’s words combine to revive speculation about covert war
Harriet Sherwood
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 January 2012 15.57 GMT
The assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan came less than 24 hours after Israel’s military chief warned that the Tehran regime could face “unnatural” events during the critical year ahead, fuelling speculation that the hand of the fabled Israeli intelligence service the Mossad was behind the latest attack.
Benny Gantz, the Israeli Defence Forces chief of staff, told a parliamentary committee: “For Iran, 2012 is a critical year in combining the continuation of its nuclearisation, internal changes in the Iranian leadership, continuing and growing pressure from the international community and things which take place in an unnatural manner.” N.B. “UNNATURAL MANNER”
These “unnatural” events are said to amount to a covert war aimed at hampering the development of Iran’s nuclear capacity that has seen a series of mysterious assassinations and explosions in Iran over the past two years.Two months ago, the Mossad was speculatively linked to a blast at Bid Ganeh, an Iranian military facility, in which 17 people were killed. Time quoted a western intelligence source claiming it was the work of the Mossad, and saying: “There are more bullets in the magazine.” N.B. “MORE BULLETS IN THE MAGAZINE”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/11/iran-scientist-death-israeli-warning
A NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN? (Or just trying to make a good impression?)
“Tamir Pardo (Hebrew: תמיר פרדו; born 1953) is the current Director of the Mossad, taking over the role from Meir Dagan on January 1, 2011. The appointment was announced by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 29, 2010.[1]
[edit]Biography
Pardo was born in Tel Aviv to a family of Turkish and Serbian origins. At age 18, when he began his compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces, he volunteered for the paratroopers. He graduated from an officers’ course, and later served as a communication officer in the elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal. He also served in the Shaldag Unit. He was a member of the unit under the command of Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu and participated in Operation Entebbe. Netanyahu, older brother to current Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, was killed during the operation.
After completing his military service, Pardo joined the Mossad in 1980, and served in entry-level technical positions. He took part in several classified operations, and was awarded the Israel Security Prize three times. He rose through the ranks and eventually became head of the “Keshet” department, responsible for operations, including obtaining electronic intelligence through wiretaps and photographic methods. In 2005, he was in line for promotion to the organization’s number 2 position, when another individual was given the job. Mossad Director-General Meir Dagan thereupon lent Pardo to the IDF, where he served as a senior advisor for operations to the Israeli General Staff. He served in this position during the 2006 Lebanon War. After Dagan fired his number 2, he invited Pardo to return to the Mossad and assume the role. Pardo did so in the belief that when Dagan retired, he would be offered the job. However, Dagan’s term was extended and he didn’t retire when expected. This led Pardo to leave the Mossad, whereupon he went into private business with Israeli Internet gambling entrepreneur Noam Lanir.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamir_Pardo
This fellow has motivation and lots of strings to his bow.
Noam Lanir spent most of his early years at Hatzor Airbase, where his father, Lt. Col. Avraham Lanir, served as a fighter pilot. During the Yom Kippur War, his father’s plane was shot down over Syria, and his father was taken prisoner and tortured to death in captivity.[2] After his father’s death, the family moved to Ramat HaSharon, where Lanir resided until he completed his military service. He attended Rotenberg High School in Ramat HaSharon, graduating in 1985. Lanir enlisted in the IDF pilot training course, but dropped out after a year and completed his military service at the unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) unit of the IDF Intelligence Corps.
He currently resides in Bnei Zion, an upscale moshav.[3] He is married and has four children.
[edit]Business ventures
In 2005, offers to buy Lanir’s online gaming company Empire Online reached $1.44 billion.[4]
Lanir is the leading shareholder of the dictionary software and language solution company Babylon, which is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange with a current valuation of 80 million USD.[5] is Babylon Ltd[6]
Lanir is the founder of Life Tree Marketing, a company that markets the medical services of Israeli hospitals overseas. The company has offices in the Ramat HaHayal neighborhood of Tel Aviv.[7]
sorry, that comes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Lanir
Tim V 7:08 PM that e mail should indeed be a matter of concern – why would it arrive to you from an unknown source, citing supposedly a story from a legitimate news channel with a byline designed to tweek your curiosity? frankly it seems too targeted to me, unless you know the source, and are/have been the recipient of e mail news feeds on a consistent basis from news organizations. I don’t subscribe to feeds for that reason – just being noted as interested in certain news items and/or news organizations – is enough to come to the attention of who knows whom.
Opening an e mail can indeed introduce a virus, trojan horse, and who nows what else. That’s how spammers and hackers get access to people’s address books. Which BTW is a possibility. Make sure none of your named contacts have been getting the same e mail. For now, I would advise that you change the password for your account for starters.
Actually I couldn’t make out from your post whether you opened the e mail or not. Please be careful and get some more advise from computer knowledgeable friends (the best are the teenage sons and daughters of acquaintances… never use your own, god forbid – they might be mortified to find out you have an independent existence!).
One more note: I would be surprised if this board was not followed. As BB found out yesterday, there’s reason to believe it is – and we had reason to believe it was before as well. the agencies out there probably have compiled profiles of people who are interested in stories such as the ones we follow here, and a key element in such a profile would be curiosity. We must admit that this is both the strong and the weak point of all amateur – and real life – detectives. It can be exploited if a decision is made to do that. So far, “they” probably don’t regard this little group of die-hards as a threat any more than all kinds of conspiracy sites they follow. In fact, “they” (as in multiples) probably use the resources of people here to figure out which online trails are still open to the public, and which holes have been left by the “clean” teams. In a way we are doing a service for “them”. However, this can all change if we start getting too close for comfort. So it’s best to be wary.
@Tim V 6:46: Penny makes and interesting observation about the missing UNDOF legal advisor:
http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.ca/2013/02/un-staffer-missing-from-golan-heights.html?showComment=1361879577899
BTW, there are two LinkedIn profiles for him, one with one connection, the other with a few more.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/carl-campeau/2b/900/984
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/carl-campeau/2a/365/377
The first has a law practice in Austria, the second in Syria.
From 1980 to 1985 “Dutch” Sa’ad worked at PRC Engineering in The Netherlands
“PRC is a US based Engineering Company.
For its subsidiary in the Netherlands acted as a European Information and Technology Manager”.
Not the word “European”.
That’s The Netherlands. And the U.K.
PRC is in Surbiton, Surrey.
Which is about 4 miles from Claygate.
That may not be odd in itself, but what is odd is that you’d discribe PRC as being in “Kingston upon Thames”.
The way in which “Claygate Al Hilli” described his location on his LinkedIn profile.
Where was Claygate Al Hilli in the mid 80’s ?
Was Dutch Al Hilli related ? Would he have popped over to see his relations ?
Dutch al Hilli would know the Greater London area.
He went to school in England. And he was at University in London.
One sex story follows another Bluebird
26 Feb, 2013 – 12:25 pm. That and an obsession with press hacking and control keep important issues and trends off the front page. “News” as we know it dominated by scandal, sex and celbrity with a fair amount of crime, esspecially if it contains scandal, sex and celebrity! Graphically illustrated in S. Africa at the moment with one of the highest murder rates in the world, only one of which is of any interest. I don’t believe the nature and timing of sex allegations is accidental (Assange and Rennard just two recent examples) or for that matter lack of them apropos fifty years of Saville.
So getting back to the Fordow incident, I think an explosion is more likely than not, partly because of the mealy mouthed response from the IAEA. Such a laid back approach to possibly hundreds of trapped personnel and the possibility of radioactive contamination is quite out of character. As you say, if its not on the news it didn’t happen. If it not in the interest of parties and they agree between them it didnt happen, its very difficult for the rest of us to know what did or didn’t. Like the drunk who decides not to hit back after taking a punch, Iran and Israel’s interests might co-incide to keep an explosion secret. If it was made public a response might be unavoidable, and a military response might be just the excuse Israel and America were looking for to “bomb Iran back into the stone age” as Rumsfeld (or someone) threatened once upon a time.
Marlin
26 Feb, 2013 – 8:08 pm thanks for the advice. I suppose I will only know when I try to get a visa for America or a holiday in Jerusalem or a young Libyan comes a-knocking at my door.
interesting links Q
26 Feb, 2013 – 8:16 pm. First Iraq destabilization for American oil interests, then Syrian destabilisation for American oil interests. Oh what a surprise
I’m not sure, but I think it is possible that the experience of the Dutch Al Hilli… has been used to explain what The Claygate Al Hilli did for work.
This may also incuding most probably the SSTL experience.
I think it is possible that Al Hilli worked overseas.
But did return to England at various points.
I further think it is possible that Shtech was not a “contractor” company, but a company that enabled money to be paid into England and for use in England.
james, 12:56 AM. I think this is on the right track, finally. SSTL and satellite work was always a bit suspect in my eyes. it also never sat well with the stint by Sa’ad at Rutherford laboratory or the “kitchen galleys” or that shtech company. SSTL can better fall in line with the Dutch orphan, except for that little problem – the bio we had from that profile site with a job in Government (waterways!) and consulting to the same agency overlapping in time – should raise serious doubts. Now that I raised the issue, can the “fixers” please fix? it’s really glaring! are the “guys” getting lazy?
One more thing james – to the Claygate Sa’ad . Remember what the postman said! (unauthorized, that! whoever allowed him to talk to reporters in the first place?). he claims to have never, or hardly ever seen Iqbal. And that she wasn’t getting much mail there. No one, it seems, has seen the lovely iqbal (a Mona Lisa for the enigmatic, multi-talented Leonardo?). No one had much to say about her – was she really such a recluse? inordinately shy? did she speak English well? was she friendly? a great cook? a good dentistry student? have all their neighbours – except from certain jewish named individuals- gone mum? who was the real Iqbal other than a soon to be a qualified dentist who was brought into the UK from Dubai? why won’t her sister in reading – a successful dentist apparently, speak of her? is there really nothing to say? doesn’t anyone have a tear to shed for Iqbal?
I find it interesting that just yesterday – a new, never-before seen photo of sa’ad – with Zeena – was released (thanks NR for the tip on MZT). Funny that – right after we started discussing the existence of the family man Sa’ad Al Hilli from Claygate and whether this was in fact the one who met an untimely death in Chevaline.
Now, I think I’ll just will sit back and wait for a few more fixings.
The Ben Zygier story is no longer pursued — interest didn’t taper off, just stopped abruptly. All that’s recent is this interview with one of the investigators who broke story. He still doesn’t name the “operation” in Italy. Seems it’s as big a secret as what happened to Zygier. Why would Australians hold back on this detail?
TREVOR BORMANN: “And I’m aware that the three Australian dual citizens had an operation in Italy where they sold electronic parts to Arab countries.”
http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2013/s3696744.htm
“The dark labyrinth of straw companies in which Ben Zygier worked”
http://www.debka.com/article/22762printversion
NR, I can’t get the file you linked to open. Any guidance?
OK, I got it. No problem. But not very informative either….
@ Q Off-Topic — About the csi company based in Cambridge, Ontario. They could use a grammar-checker on their pages. Though grammar isn’t a prerequisite — some effective people are almost illiterate — you’d think high-end clients would appreciate slickness on the front-end. Note list of prime locations: “CANADA, UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, UNITED KINGDOM, ISRAEL, GERMANY, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, STH AFRICA.”
Off on Another Topic —
They’re grossing US$100 million and only now are beginning to hire lawyers to make sure what they’re doing is legal? Bet assorted governments don’t care much either provided they share info.
@ Tim V 26 Feb, 2013 – 7:08 pm
“Rather strange that. I had an e-mail with a news story from the Jerusalem Post regarding a break-in at the top Israeli Nuc Scientist.”
It was exactly that type of email that Mandiant says are sometimes used to compromise even large systems.