"Science," the Greek word for knowledge, when appended to the word "political," creates what seems like an oxymoron. For who could claim to know politics? More complicated than any game, most people who play it become addicts and die without understanding what they were addicted to. The rest of us suffer under their malpractice as our "leaders." A truer case of the blind leading the blind could not be found. Plumb the depths of confusion here.
Office of the Legal Attache 24 Grosvenor Square London, England WIA LAE
11 June, 1992
40-CG-76385
Sigvard Ronnback Head of Interpol Rikspolisstyrelsen Interpolsektionen Box 12 256 S-102 26 Stockholm Sweden
Your File: IP1513/92/AC
Subject: LESTER KNOX COLEMAN, III
Reference is made to your communication dated 6 May, 1992 and a telephone call between Mr. Anders Claesson of your office and myself.
Enclosed per a request of Mr. Claesson is a report detailing the background of Lester Knox Coleman.
As Coleman is a fugitive, we would greatly appreciate any information you may be able to provide on his current status in Sweden and the possibility Swedish law would allow for his deportation to the United States.
As always, your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Very truly yours,
Susan A. Sprengel Assistant Legal Attache
For: R. John Theriault, Jr. Legal Attache
Smoking gun I: Washington tries to persuade Stockholm to deport Coleman to the United States.
U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation
Chicago, Illinois 60604 March 30, 1992
LESTER KNOX COLEMAN, III, aka Thomas Leavy; PASSPORT VIOLATION
Chicago
Investigative Summary prepared: March 30, 1992
Basis for Investigation:
This investigation was instituted on February 7, 1990, when New London, Connecticut Resident Agency, New Haven Division, reported they had been notified by the New London Bureau of Vital Statistics that a person identifying himself as THOMAS LEAVY, had requested a copy of his birth certificate. LEAVY's Date of Birth (DOB) was listed July 4, 1948, his parents were listed as JOHN and MARY LEAVY and THOMAS LEAVY's address was listed as 416 County Line Road, Barrington, Illinois. A computer check of the Bureau of Vital Statistics Records revealed that the real THOMAS LEAVY had died in New London, Connecticut, two days after his 1948 birth.
On April 6, 1990, RICHARD BECKMAN, Chicago Passport Office, 230 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, advised the FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) Chicago, that he had a possible passport violation. An application, submitted by a THOMAS LEAVY on March 26, 1990 at the Arlington Heights Post Office, had a number of indicators that pointed to a violation.
The first indication was the birth certificate for the dead baby. Other indicators were recently issued driver's license and Social Security Account Numbers. Also the home and work addresses on the applications came back to two separate mail drop locations. The home contact telephone number on the application is not a north suburban telephone exchange. The listing is for a cellular telephone.
Another indicator was that the contact person listed on the application was a relative. The contact is LESTRE COLMAN, 415 West County Line Road, Barrington, Illinois, telephone number (708) 381-1056, listed as a brother-in-law. The telephone number, 381-1056, comes back to ARTHUR MCINTOSH, 416 West County Line Road, Barrington.
Investigation to date:
Investigation at Chicago revealed that the owner of one mail drop and the Office Manager of the second, identified the photo from the passport application as LESTER KNOX COLEMAN. The owner of a printing shop advised that LESTER COLEMAN had ordered two sets of business cards. One was in the name LESTER COLEMAN, the other THOMAS LEAVY.
Numerous checks at the address listed for emergency contact, which was the same address the birth certificate was to be mailed to, failed to reveal any tenants. On April 16, 1990, the next door neighbor was approached for information. The neighbor advised that LESTER COLEMAN was house sitting for the owner of the home, ARTHUR T. MCINTOSH. The neighbor identified the photo from the application as LESTER COLEMAN. She advised that the COLEMAN family left on April 7, 1990 for California. COLEMAN was to go to Japan and on his return flight stop in Hawaii to meet the rest of the family. The neighbor stated that on April 11, 1990, KOLDON MOVING AND STORAGE, 410 Telser Road, Lake Zurich, Illinois arrived to move COLEMAN's belongings to storage.
On April 17, 1990, Magistrate W. THOMAS ROSEMOND, Jr., Northern District of Illinois, issued a warrant for LESTER KNOX COLEMAN, III. This warrant was for willfully and knowingly making a false statement in an application for a passport, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1542.
On April 25, 1990, KOLDEN MOVING AND STORING advised that COLEMAN can be reached at telephone number (205) 540-2448. The telephone number was sent to the FBI office in Mobile, Alabama. On May 1, 1990 LESTER KNOX COLEMAN, III, was arrested without incident at Townhouse Residence SE-14, 1616 Fort Morgan Road, Fort Morgan, Alabama.
After his arrest COLEMAN claimed to have petitioned to have his name changed to THOMAS LEAVY. A check with Jefferson County Probate Records Department, Birmingham, Alabama, revealed that COLEMAN did not petition the court until April 12, 1990 to change his name.
Smoking gun II: he FBI's so-called 'Investigative Summary' which accompanied the letter to Stockholm, setting out the basis for the passport charge.
To Whom it May Concern:
I am a journalist working on a book project which indirectly involves American foreign policy.
On January 18th, 1993, I called the Records Office in New London, Connecticut, and asked to speak to the Clerk, Gloria Hatfield. I asked Ms. Hatfield if the New London records showed that a Thomas Leavy had died on the 6th of July, 1948. Ms. Hatfield examined her files and informed me that she had looked under 1946, '47, '48 and '49, but could find no record of such a person. When I asked if she had information showing the birth of a Thomas Leavy as being July 4, 1948, she replied that obtaining a birth record required the presentation of documents, which I did not have.
Sincerely,
Diana Holdsworth January 25, 1993
EVELYN F. NABBAH NOTARY PUBLIC State of Connecticut 1/25/93 MY COMMISSION EXPIRES MARCH 31, 1995
Smoking gun III: The sworn statement of Diana Holdsworth contradicting the FBI's assertion that the 'real' Thomas Leavy died on 6 July 1948.
Fugitive warrant ploy: Ordered by the Federal court to report to Dr. Hakan Hallberg in Trollhattan for a medication examination, Coleman discovers that Dr. Hallberg knows nothing about the arrangement. Although Coleman submits a written statement from the doctor to that effect, a bench warrant is issued for Coleman's arrest on grounds of 'failure to appear.'
1. The information below was gathered through interview of the defendant and through contact with DEA Headquarters, NBC News, and the subject's attorney.
I. Lester Coleman was born in Pensacola, FL on September 25, 1943.
II. Although Mr. Coleman's employment history sounds quite improbable, information he gave to the Pretrial Services Officer has proven to be true. Coleman is a free-lance journalist, specializing in the Middle East, who has also worked as an undercover investigator for the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States. NBC News Foreign Correspondent Brian Ross contacted this office on May 3, 1990 to verify Coleman's relationship with NBC News. He also indicated Coleman has worked with other news agencies, as well. Ross indicated Coleman has contributed stories regarding Middle East terrorism and drug trafficking to NBC News numerous times throughout the 1980's. They have interviewed him on the air, on NBC nightly news, as an expert in terrorism and drug production in the Middle East. Ross also verified that Coleman has testified before Senate committees on these same subjects.
Ray Tripiccio, an agent with DEA in Washington, D.C., verifies that Coleman has formerly worked in a relationship with the Drug Enforcement Administration. The only information he could give on this secret activity is that Coleman was deactivated as a contract consultant as of 6-24-88.
Joseph Boohaker of the Counsel of Lebanese-American Organizations, verifies that Coleman has been employed with that group in the past, for about a year. His contract ended 3-31-90, and it appears likely that Coleman has not had a regular pay check, since that time. Coleman indicates that he is currently working on a book, and that he was attempting to make arrangements to return to the Middle East, in order to do more research. (It is noted that Coleman has gone to Jefferson County Probate Court in Birmingham, to have his name legally changed to, "Thomas Leavy.") Joseph Boohaker, the subject's attorney, verifies that this was accomplished sometime in April. (The present charge from Chicago apparently pre-dates the legal name change.) Coleman states that he needed a passport in a different name, because his name is known to drug traffickers in the Middle East.
IV. I have no information indicating that Mr. Coleman has ever been arrested. Coleman's Pretrial Services Report, in which the Drug Enforcement Administration describes him, correctly, as a 'contract consultant' engaged in 'secret activity.'
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, vs. LES COLEMAN, Defendant.
90 CR 365
MOTION FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS UNDER RULE 16(a)(1)(C)
Now comes the defendant Les Coleman by his undersigned counsel and respectfully requests the following government documents which are material to the preparation of defendant's defense:
1. All records by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and any other United States Intelligence or Law Enforcement Agency reflecting their employment and/or working relationship with the defendant, Les Coleman, including all DEA records referring to DEA Informant ID #SX9860002, all records of DIA MC 10 pertaining to the defendant, as well as all files from the CIA and DEA related to an operation named "COREA" from December 1987 to January 1989.
Included in the document request are all documents or other writings reflecting payment, work assignments, evaluations, travel authorizations, equipment requisitions or any other reference to a Les Coleman, Benjamin B, Thomas Leavy, Jr., Stevens Mantra Corp., Middle East Television, Condor Television Ltd., AMA Industries, and Wildwood Video. All of these names are code names and front companies under which defendant worked for the government.
In support of this request defendant states that his defense to the charge in making a false statement in application for a passport, is that he was working for the government at the time he made such false statements and that the alleged false birth certificate upon which the false statement is based was supplied to him by the government and was used to obtain a passport to conduct a secret intelligence operation for the government. Consequently, all documents showing the defendants working relationship with government intelligence agencies would be corroborative of his claim and material and necessary for his defense.
Respectfully submitted,
Dated: August 30, 1990
MICHAEL E. DUETSCH Attorney for Defendant 343 S. Dearborn Suite 1607 Chicago, IL 60604 (312) 235-0070
Defending himself against the passport charge, Coleman seeks a court order on 30 August 1990, requiring the DEA, the DIA and other agencies to produce his government employment records. Washington refused to comply on grounds of 'national security.'
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DIVISION OF NEW YORK
IN RE AIR DISASTER AT LOCKERBIE, SCOTLAND ON DECEMBER 21, 1988
PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS, INC., PAN AM WORLD SERVICES, INC., and ALERT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC.,
Defendants/Third Party Plaintiffs,
- against -
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Third-Party Defendant.
M.D.L. 799 (TCP) (All Cases)
(JMS 7190)
AFFIDAVIT IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION TO DISMISS OR FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
THIS DOCUMENT IS FILED IN:
ALL ACTIONS
LESTER K. COLEMAN, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
1. I am currently self-employed as a freelance writer, author and security consultant. I am a United States citizen and am temporarily residing outside of the United States.
2. I am fully familiar with the facts in this affidavit, and all of the statements contained in this affidavit are made on my personal knowledge except as otherwise stated. I make this affidavit in opposition to the motion of third-party defendant, United States of America (the "Government"), for an order dismissing the claims of the third-party plaintiffs against the Government or, alternatively, for an order granting the Government summary judgment on those claims.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
3. I was raised in the Middle East where I lived in Iran, Libya and Saudi Arabia, and I speak Arabic in three ...
TRANSCRIPT TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
MAY 1 1988 TIME: 10:10 a.m. CYPRUS LOCAL
CALL MADE FROM EURAME TRADING COMPANY OFFICE NICOSIA
TO DEA COUNTRY OFFICE, AMERICAN EMBASSY NICOSIA
PRIVATE LINE, TELEPHONE 02-465-182
LC=LESTER COLEMAN MH=MICHEAL HURLEY DEA ATTACHE
LC: HELL MIKE?
MH: YEA
LC: THE SITUATION HERE IS GETTING OUT OF HAND ..
MH: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
LC: WE'VE GOT PEOPLE COMING IN AND OUT OF HERE ... LIKE A TRAIN STATION ... PINKO'S PEOPLE BRINGING IN ALL SORTS .. I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE ... LEBANESE ... WITH NAMES WE HAVE IN THE FILES ... YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? WE HAD AN AGREEMENT. IT REALLY WORRIES ME ... BEING EXPOSED LIKE THIS ...
MH: LET ME WORRY ABOUT THAT ... YOU JUST HELP IBRAHIM GET THOSE REPORTS OUT ... I'LL DEAL WITH THE CYPRIOTS ... WHOSE OVER THERE NOW?
LC: JUST ME AND IBRAHIM .. BITCHING AND COMPLAINING AS USUAL ... SAYS HE CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE ... WANTS TO QUIT ... HE'S DRIVING ME NUTS. GOD DAMN MIKE THIS IS NOT WHY I CAME BACK HERE.
MH: YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO DO THE BEST YOU CAN.
***
"LC:" LEAVE? THAT'S ALOT OF CRAP MIKE ... LOOK I'M NOT ONE OF YOUR LEBANESE OR CYPRIOTS OR IRAQI CI'S ... YOU REQUESTED MY SERVICES, REMEMBER? AND I WAS TOLD IF I DIDN'T LIKE IT I COULD PULL OUT ANYTIME. YOU TALK TO WHO EVER YOU WENT TO TO GET ME INVOLVED IN THIS CANDY ASSED OPERATION ... TELL THEM, AND I'LL TELL THEM WHEN I GET BACK TO THE STATES ... I'M PULLING. THIS IS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN ... EVEN YOUR OWN PEOPLE THINK THIS IS BULL SHIT.
Coleman's affidavit in Pan Am vs USA, to which was appended a transcript of his conversation with Micheal T. Hurley in which, seven months before Lockerbie, he warned the DEA attache about 'a disaster waiting to happen.'
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DIVISION OF NEW YORK
IN RE AIR DISASTER AT LOCKERBIE, SCOTLAND ON DECEMBER 21, 1988
PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS, INC., PAN AM WORLD SERVICES, INC., and ALERT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC.,
Defendants/Third Party Plaintiffs,
- against -
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Third-Party Defendant.
M.D.L. 799 (PLATT, CH. J.) (ALL CASES)
DECLARATION OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL TERRY E. BATHEN
I, Terry E. Bathen, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army, Assistant General Counsel, Defense Intelligence Agency, do hereby declare the following to be true and correct:
5. My review of Department of Defense HUMINT records reveals that Mr. Coleman was formerly associated with a Department of Defense intelligence activity. On or about October 25, 1985, Coleman contacted Defense Intelligence Agency personnel by telephone and volunteered to provide information concerning the Middle East. Mr. Coleman's offer to provide video tapes associated with his travels in that part of the world was favorably evaluated, and he became affiliated with a classified Department of Defense Intelligence activity during December 1986.
I certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Terry E. Bathen Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Assistant General Counsel Defense Intelligence Agency
Executed this 29th day of May 1991. Limited hang-out I: The declaration of DIA counsel in Pan Am vs USA which unexpectedly admits that Coleman worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency, although it plays down the extent and nature of his employment as a HUMINT agent.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DIVISION OF NEW YORK
IN RE AIR DISASTER AT LOCKERBIE, SCOTLAND ON DECEMBER 21, 1988
PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS, INC., PAN AM WORLD SERVICES, INC., and ALERT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC.,
Defendants/Third Party Plaintiffs,
- against -
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Third-Party Defendant.
M.D.L. 799 (PLATT, CH. J.) (ALL CASES)
DECLARATION OF MICHEAL T. HURLEY
I, MICHEAL T. HURLEY, declare and say:
1. I am a Special Agent (criminal investigator) of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a component of the United States Department of Justice. I have been employed by DEA and its predecessor agencies since September 1968.
2. I submit this declaration in connection with the allegations against the United States Drug Enforcement Administration regarding the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988.
6. Coleman was established as a DEA-cooperating individual ("CI") on January 31, 1986, partially because of his technical capabilities and he said that he could establish a CI network in Lebanon. He was to recruit sub-sources to collect data regarding opium production in Lebanon. The data would enable DEA to develop strategic information on opium production in that region, including crop estimates, crop eradication, and major trafficking routes.
I hereby declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Signed this 31st day of May, 1991.
MICHEAL T. HURLEY Special Agent Drug Enforcement Administration
Limited hang-out II: The declaration of Micheal Hurley in Pan Am vs USA in which he concedes that Coleman worked for the DEA in Cyprus, while playing down the nature of his assignment, and from which it is clear that Coleman was working for the Defense Intelligence Agency at the same time.
REDACTED VERSION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
Docket Nos. 92-9251, 92-9253 and 92-9255
IN RE: AIR DISASTER AT LOCKERBIE, SCOTLAND ON DECEMBER 21, 1988
JUDITH A. PAGNUCCO, individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Robert I. Pagnucco, deceased; MOLENA A. PORTER, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Walter L. Porter, deceased; and DONA BARDELLI BAINBRIDGE, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Harry M. Bainbridge,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS, INC., and ALERT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC.,
Defendants-Appellants.
On Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS, INC. AND ALERT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC.
Clinton H. Coddington Coddington, Hicks & Danforth Suite 300 555 Twin Dolphin Drive Paragon Center, Redwood Shores Redwood City, California 94065 (415) 592-5400
James M. Shaughnessy Windels, Marx, Davies & Ives 156 West 56th Street New York, New York 10019 (212) 237-1000
Richard M. Sharp Frederick C. Schafrick Eric C. Jeffrey Lisa A. Landsman Shea & Gardner 1800 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 828-2000
Attorneys for Pan American World Airways, Inc. and Alert Management Systems, Inc.
Under Seal Version Dated: January 28, 1993 Redacted Version dated: February 9, 1993
2. Defendants' Contention: The Method of Bombing Was Not Established. Defendants contended that it could not be determined from the evidence developed by the parties how the terrorists had planted the bomb on Flight 103. [6] Defendants were precluded from presenting the opinions of three experts (Airel Merari, Noel Koch, and Peter Gurney) [7] that the plaintiffs' theory as to how the bomb got on board was implausible and the evidence was insufficient to permit an expert to conclude that the bomb bag had been transferred in Frankfurt from Air Malta (e.g., J.A. 3465-68). In consequence, the jury heard only one expert for the defense (Dr. Lee Grodzins), and his testimony, as truncated by another ruling (see pp. 8-9 below), related to technical aspects of x-ray that were not in dispute by the parties (Tr. 5728-57).
Defendants were permitted to adduce testimony and records from Air Malta to show that no unaccompanied bag had been loaded onto Flight KM 180. [8] Plaintiffs' supposedly contradictory baggage records from varying sources in the FAG, defendants contended,
_______________
6. In a series of discovery rulings, defendants were prevented from obtaining discovery from the United States as to information that it might have regarding how the bombing was committed.
7. See J.A. 4435-38 (Gurney); J.A. 3498-502 (Merari); Offer of Proof for Noel Koch, J.A. 448.
8. On Air Malta, the head loader must physically count the number of bags loaded in a plane's cargo hold to ensure that it equals the number on the baggage manifest (J.A. 3358 (Agius)). Moreover, no baggage of any kind from Flight KM 180 had been designated on the passenger transfer message (J.A. 1151) for transfer to Pan Am Flight 103 (J.A. 3367 (Borg)).
Extracts from Pan Am's appeal brief against the finding 'wilful misconduct' by a New York jury in the 1992 compensation suit brought by the families of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster.
contained so many demonstrable errors and omissions that no reliable conclusion could be based on them (J.A. 3603-12).
Defendants also adduced testimony that plaintiffs' theory of the bombing (the "Air Malta theory") was wrong because a bag containing a radio-cassette player had not been seen by the operator who x-rayed the interline bags that were loaded on to Pan Am Flight 103 in Frankfurt. Kurt Maier, who performed that inspection on December 21, 1988, testified that his duty report (J.A. 1099-1100) showed that he had x-rayed 13 bags for Flight 103, that he had been told to call a supervisor if he saw a radio inside any bag, and that none of the 13 bags x-rayed for Flight 103 contained a radio-cassette player (J.A. 3382-83, 3388-89, 3392-93). [9] Plaintiffs contended that Mr. Maier had not been properly trained as an x-ray operator and that he had not been wearing his eyeglasses (J.A. 2967 (Vincent)). Mr. Maier rejoined that his eyeglasses were only reading glasses that he did not need or use to perform his job (J.A. 3379-80).
Pan Am was precluded from presenting a demonstration of the x-ray equipment that would have supported Mr. Maier's testimony and would have shown the freeze-frame image produced on the monitor by a Toshiba radio-cassette player inside a Samsonite suitcase. The demonstration would have been presented by Dr. Lee Grodzins of M.I.T. The court ruled that the demonstration was irrelevant on the ground that plaintiffs, in effect, stipulated that radio-cassette players would be visible on the x-ray's monitor (J.A. ____); even though plaintiffs contended that Maier himself had been incapable of detecting such a radio.
Twelve of the 13 bags x-rayed by Maier for Flight 103 could be traced to passengers. Plaintiffs asked the jury to infer that the thirteenth bag was the alleged unaccompanied bomb bag from Air Malta. Defendants introduced evidence that the thirteenth bag was not the bomb bag, but rather was the unaccompanied "rush-tag" bag [10] of a Pan Am pilot, Captain Hubbar, who had sent two bags home, one of which was found at Lockerbie. [11]
B. The Parties' Contentions On Wilful Misconduct Relating to Plaintiffs' Air Malta Theory
1. The Alleged Violation of the ACSSP. Plaintiffs contended that Pan Am's x-ray procedure violated the aviation security requirements contained in the FAA's Air Carrier Standard Security Program ("ACSSP"). At the time of the Lockerbie disaster, ACSSP § XV.C.1(a) required that carriers at "extraordinary security" airports, such as Frankfurt, Heathrow, and other major European airports:
_______________
9. Maier was intensely cross-examined on, among other subjects, earlier deposition testimony that appeared to say that he stopped bags with radio-cassette players only if they appeared "suspicious." Maier explained that he would have stopped any radio-cassette player as being suspicious (J.A. 3394-96, 3408-09). Some of the difficulties with Maier's deposition appear to have been caused by the poor quality of the translation between English and German. (Maier does not speak English.) See, e.g., J.A. 3411 (in-court translator notes video deposition translation as "poor German, and ambiguous").
10. A "rush-tag bag" is a bag that has become separated from its owner/passenger. This is a common, some would say routine, occurrence on every airline. The general practice of the airlines is to specially ticket the bags ("rug-tag") and send them on their way. At Frankfurt, Pan Am x-rayed such bags before carrying them. See note 11 infra.
11. Captain Hubbard tagged two bags for carriage from Berlin to his home in SEattle, and then he piloted an aircraft to Karachi (Tr. 5420-43). One of his bags arrived at Seattle; the other was found at Lockerbie. Pan Am introduced evidence to show that because it required rush-tag bags to be x-rayed, one could infer that the Hubbard bag found at Lockerbie had been x-rayed by Maier before being placed on board Flight 103. (J.A. 1120-23; Tr. 5241 (Wunderlich).) Plaintiffs contended either that Hubbard's bag was put on Flight 103 in London (J.A. 762 (memo. of Jones)) or that it was not x-rayed in Frankfurt (Tr. 5263-66 (Wunderlich)).
SUBCOMMITTEE STAFF REPORT
Syria, President Bush and Drugs -- the Administration's Next Iraqgate --
November 23, 1992 [1]
Chairman Charles E. Schumer of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice directed the Subcommittee majority staff to prepare this report. This report has not been reviewed or approved by other Members of the Subcommittee.
... Syrian Government involvement and the ____ some military units or Syrian officials, U.S. Government officials publicly claim that they are not in a position to substantiate such charges. However, Subcommittee staff spoke with former government officials who confirmed the existence of satellite photos showing Syrian military units, including tanks, artillery, and infantry encampments, strategically placed in, and adjacent to, recognized fields and known heroin laboratories.
Another source with intimate knowledge of the U.S. Government's files on Lebanese drug traffickers informed Subcommittee staff that the U.S. Government now possesses extensive intelligence information implicating many Syrian Government officials in the Lebanese drug trade. Much of this information is raw intelligence in the form of reports from confidential informants, intercepted wire and telephone communications, and other intelligence information received from foreign governments.
1. Monser al-Kassar -- "The Drug Prince of Marbella" and "The Godfather of Terrorists"
To better understand why the U.S. Government is apparently hesitant to act on such information, consider our Government's response, or lack thereof, to the infamous Monser al-Kassar.
The al-Kassar family has been part of the present Damascus regime since Hafez Assad took power in 1970. Monser's father, Mohammad al-Kassar, served in the Syrian diplomatic corps. The al-Kassars have been characterized as "the largest drug and arms dealing family in Syria."
Extracts from a congressional report prepared by the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice documenting Syria's involvement in Lebanese narcotics trafficking.
From about 1976 until about 1984, President Assad's younger brother, _____, leading baron of the Lebanese drug trade. He used Syrian military trucks, aircraft and diplomatic pouches as tools of his international drug network which he based out of the northern Bekaa. The 569th Syrian Army division which he commanded was reportedly little more than "muscle" for his drug trafficking organization.
Specializing in opium and heroin, Rifaat amassed an illicit fortune. After an unsuccessful attempt to depose his brother, Hafez, he was effectively exiled and now leads a life of luxury in his heavily-guarded villa on the French Riviera. He reportedly continues to play a substantial role in Bekaa Valley drug trafficking with the tacit approval of some Western governments. Two of Rifaat's sons, Darid and Firas, are also reportedly based in France and involved in smuggling arms and drugs throughout the Mediterranean.
3. Mustafa Tlass, Syrian Minister of Defense
Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass is associated with at least three known drug traffickers including Hamad Ali al-Kis from Baalbak. Tlass was recently involved in procuring an exit visa for a very high-profile trafficker who had to leave Syria quickly, presumably to avoid "problems." This is consistent with other reports of his obtaining visas for traffickers traveling to Argentina, Spain and Germany.
During August 1989, the Syrian Defense Ministry reportedly distributed more than 1,000 "laissez passer" or travel permits at $10,000 each to "friends" of the Defense Ministry. This report is consistent with news accounts that drug smugglers from Lebanon were intercepted on their way to Israel and Egypt with special travel passes signed by "M. Tlass." At least one government source has told the Subcommittee staff that the U.S. Government presently possesses sufficient information to indict Tlass for drug trafficking.
4. General Ali Dubah, Commander of Syrian Military Intelligence
Dubah, related to Monser al-Kassar by marriage, is one of President Assad's closest friends and confidantes. He is connected with many major Lebanese trafficers including the Jaffar clan.
He also coordinates Syrian extortion efforts to ensure that sufficient drug profits are left over from the "personal corruption" so that the Syrian military intelligence service is not deprived of its institutional share. Dubah's role in the drug trade has been characterized as "having his hand in everyone's cookie jar."
Kenaan has also been shown to arbitrate disputes between _____ known drug trafficking clans, presumably for a fee.
Tlass, Dubah and Kenaan have all personally issued travel passes to known drug traffickers. Such passes allow the dealer to move freely in Lebanon and/or Syria "with his car, his personal weapon and cargo, without being searched or detained."
Working together with the Lebanese clans who have traditionally controlled the drug trade, these and other lesser officers are heavily involved with the Lebanese trafficking networks to serve essentially their own purposes:
(1) They rake off whatever immediate drug profits they can for personal enrichment;
(2) They use the drug money for other purposes related to their military/intelligence activities (i.e. they buy informers); and
(3) They use their ability to manage the drug trade of any of the organized groups by either threatening to seize that group's drugs, or more subtly, by allowing one group to move its product to market more quickly and cheaply.
VI. Syrian Military and Diplomatic Officials Have Been Repeatedly Linked to Drug Trafficking During the Last Ten Years.
Syrian military and intelligence officials in occupied Lebanon are involved in the drug trade at all levels: cultivation, production and transportation. Such connections between high-level Syrian Government officials and drug traffickers are not coincidental. These bonds are merely a representative sample of the Syrian Government's widespread pattern and practice of associating itself with those who peddle poison around the world.
INTERFOR, INC.
575 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10022, SUITE 1006, TEL. 212-605-0375, TLX: 237699 WWBUS, FAX: 212-3089834
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
I. ASSIGNMENT:
As the overall assignment, Defense trial counsel retained us to investigate the facts of the disaster, gather intelligence, develop leads, locate witnesses, locate and obtain physical evidence, and to locate expert witnesses and advise and consult with counsel as it may direct. The first stage assignment was to determine the facts and then to identify the sources, nature, extent, form and quality of available evidence; and then to recommend the action to obtain such evidence in court-admissible form, and to estimate the likelihood of obtaining same and the costs.
II. REPORTED RESULTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATIONS:
The assignment commenced some six months after the disaster during which time law enforcement agencies of Great Britain, Federal Republic of Germany and the United States have investigated the matter. Reports of their results and theories have been published in various journals via direct quotes attributed and unattributed from official investigative sources. Review of same shows that many key facts have been established while others remain in dispute. Therefore, it is useful to summarize same before we state our independent findings.
A. Facts Generally Agreed by Law Enforcement:
The flight originated in Frankfurt on a Boeing 727 on December 21, 1988. The flight landed in London's Heathrow airport. A second plane, a Boeing 747, was then used for the continuation leg to New York JFK under Number 103. All continuing passengers deplained in Heathrow and then boarded the 747 with the London passengers. The flight crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland, due to a bomb explosion, with all lives lost.
Law enforcement investigators have determined that the bomb was made of Samtex explosive and concealed in a suitcase which was in a cargo hold, that it weighed approx. 1.25 pounds (568 grams), that it exploded over Lockerbie, and that it was sufficient in explosive power to cause the plane to crash.
A. SOURCES.
Source 1 is comprised of six persons working in different units of the intelligence community of a Western government. Reliability of this information is very good. Generally this group of agencies is only fair to good among the various persons reporting based on our prior experience and its past record. However, the very number of separate sources in these agencies (not necessarily sympathetic to each other), all sharing the conclusion, as well as the depth of the intelligence gathered, and the agencies' considerable resources and special interest in the matter, justifies rating this information as very good.
Source 2 is comprised of three persons working in different units of the intelligence agency of a second Western government. Reliability of this information is very good, not so much due to prior experience with the sources, which is good to very good, but because of their position to know the particular facts.
Source 3 is one person working for the intelligence agency of a third Western oriented government. Reliability of this information is excellent based on our prior experience with both the agency and the particular person, its and his prior record, and its position to know first hand these matters.
Source 4 is one person working for the intelligence agency of a fourth Western government. Good. It is normally rated very good but is conservatively downgraded as to this matter because its information seems in some aspects to be derivative, i.e. in great part based on information received from other agencies.
(It must be emphasized that these sources did not have as their objective the acquisition of evidence for the apprehension and trial of the perpetrators; rather, their objective is to monitor terrorist acts, draw conclusions based on their expertise, and then use what they learn so as to defend their countries in the future.)
Source 5 is an experienced Director of airport security for the most security conscious airline. He was in a position to receive the inside consensus of various security officers at Frankfurt Airport, which he reported to us. He also receives daily terrorism intelligence from his company's liaison with its host country's highly regarded intelligence service, and ...
Extracts from a confidential report on the Flight 103 disaster commissioned from Juval Aviv, of Interfor Inc., by James M. Shaughnessy in the course of Pan Am's own investigation.
BACKGROUND HISTORY
The subject disaster resulted from planning and events ___ a couple of years earlier.
Libya's Qadaffi is a major funder of terrorism. He tired of the ineffectiveness and costs of the internal jealousies among terrorist factions, wanted more effective terrorism against America, yet did not want to suffer further American retaliation. He demanded that the more skilled terrorist groups coordinate better, and do it so as to preserve his deniability.
At the same time, Syrian intelligence, which had been exposed as planning the Hindawi bomb attempt against El Al in London out of its embassy there, sought deeper cover and backed Ahmed Jibril's PFLP as its front team.
Meetings were then held among leaders of various factions: Ahmed Jibril of PLFP, Abu Nidal, George Habash, Ali Issa Duba of Syrian intelligence, and Iranian radicals, (named by us hereafter for convenience as the "Interterror Group"). They agreed to cooperate and seek secure routs for smuggling contrabad and people for terrorism while raising additional funds. (Some of these groups had been doing so individually for some time). They never trusted each other, kept secrets from each other, and never worked together in full cooperation, but there were frequent although wary joint contacts and operations.
They set up a complex drug and arms smuggling operation via various European cities. Eventually Abu Nidal ran the drugs-arms operations, while Ahmed Jibril concentrated on arms and terrorist planning.
Monzer Al-Kassar, born 7/1/47, in Nabak, Syria, is married to Raghda Duba, the sister of Syrian intelligence chief Ali Issa Duba, (sometimes spelled Douba). Al-Kassar is a major arms and drug smuggler who has played a key role in terrorism banking and "diplomacy" among terrorist groups, and has acquaintances with certain Western leaders. For example, he is known to have had friendly contacts with former Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky.
Al-Kassar has had long term romantic affairs with Raja Al-Assad, the daughter of Rifat Assad, who is the brother of Syrian President Hafez Assad, spending time with her at her ...
***
The PanAm Frankfurt smuggling operation worked as follows: an accomplice boarded flights with checked luggage containing innocent items. An accomplice Turkish baggage handler for PanAm was tipped to identify the suitcase, then switched it with an identical piece holding contraband, which he had brought into the airport or otherwise received there from another accomplice. The passenger accomplice then picked up the baggage on arrival. It is not known how this method passed through arrival customs where such existed, but this route and method worked steadily and smoothly for a long time.
The Turkish baggage handlers attended mosques in Cologne and Bonn which were fundamentalist Islamic sects. It was there that they were recruited.
Khalid Jafar was a regular "passenger" accomplice for the drug route.
The BKA/DEA/CIA surveillance operation continued to monitor the route without interfering with it, apparently seeking intelligence. As they realized the extent of the oepration they decided to try to channel the operation into less numerous areas so that they could concentrate their surveillance focus. So BKA began a combination of arrests and visible police presence at other drug operation locales in West Germany, which eventually induced the operators to concentrate where there was no such visible presence, at Frankfurt airport, PanAm.
CIA had another motive to channel the operation to PanAm's baggage area. It had for some time been surveilling separate activities there involving shipments (contents unspecified) to and from the East Bloc via PanAm through Frankfurt, Berlin and Moscow. This would enable them to more efficiently monitor both operations now.
The CIA unit involved in this Frankfurt airport surveillance works in West Germany with BKA and has a control at an unknown location in the Washington area. We cannot say with certainty that the activities of this unit were fully reported if at all up the channels to CIA HQ; it appears that it eventually operated to some or a large extent as an internal covert operation without consistent oversight, a la Oliver North or Edwin Wilson. To distinguish what it knew as opposed to what CIA HQ definitely knew, we refer to that unit as CIA-1.
***
CONCLUSIONS.
From this perspective the apparent contradictions in the reports of the official investigations might be explained as follows: (1) Jafar checked a suitcase, possibly in a manner which was not recorded or noticed, and we stand by our sources as to this; (2) The signs of an explosion in the CIA luggage was likely an anti-entry small explosive often used by them, and was likely triggered by the first explosion or a hurtling object; (3) the nervous CIA presence and strange behavior at the crash site indicates the sensitivity of the contents of the CIA passengers' luggage.
It is pointless to try to pin down further the exact motives and identities and roles of the terrorists. All had the same goal: to strike at America. They are known to work together, albeit in duplicity. Confusion of funders, planners, perpetrators and motive is a mark of Syrian intelligence planning.
We are also persuaded by the intelligence as to the BKA-CIA-1 surveillance, videotape and possession of key evidence by the U.S. Government, as well as the communications codename. The persons so reporting spoke from what appears to be detailed knowledge. It was our impression that more than one of these persons prefers to keep the truth hidden (and assumes that it will remain so) while others prefer that it emerge, although not in a position to do so.
From the perspective of intelligence analysis our findings are conclusive. From the perspective of journalists it is publishable speculation. From the perspective of trial lawyers it probably remains inadmissible speculation or hearsay.
The police authority of Trollhattan, Sweden, hereby merely certifies that this is a copy of a page in a passport, which has been presented before the police authority by a gentleman, who states that his name is Lester Knox Coleman and who has applied for asylum in Sweden on political grounds. The police authority does not certify the authenticity of the passport in question.
POLISMYNDIGHETEN
Ulrica Ericsson Deputy Police Superintendent
Specimen pages from Coleman's still valid American passport with some of the visas and entry and exit stamps that support his account of his movements as a DIA secret agent.
"Somebody was hammering on the front door. It was light now, and he went through to the kitchen, which overlooked the street, to see who it was. As he looked out, a young man in a blue FBI windbreaker glanced up from below, hand on holster, and tried to hide behind a telephone pole." -- from the book
Trail of the Octopus tells the story of Lester Knox Coleman, an agent for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), who was prosecuted by the U.S. government for his efforts to reveal what he knew about the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988, that took the lives of all 259 passengers and crew, and another eleven persons on the ground. Coleman didn't set out to be a spy, but he turned out to be a good one. Having learned Arabic as the son of an oil engineer, electrical engineering as a radio broadcaster, and public relations with the Boy Scouts of America, he eventually put all these skills to work for the DIA. In 1984, at the age of thirty-nine, he began working as a DIA agent in Lebanon and Cyprus, undercover as a broadcaster, a newsman, and a college professor researching drug dealing for his thesis. He ran dozens of intelligence assets, gaining detailed knowledge of the drug and weapons trafficking that saturated the region.
When Coleman discovered that some of the agents, who were running Lebanese heroin to the U.S. through the Frankfurt and London airports for use in stateside "sting" operations, had gone rogue, he warned his superiors of the danger, but they took no action to stop the operation. Disgusted wtih a system that seemed to be obsessed with documenting everything and acting on nothing, in May 1988, Coleman withdrew from his position in Cyprus and returned to the United States.
When the Lockerbie tragedy occurred seven months later, Coleman didn't initially realize that what he had learned in the Middle East would be of value to investigators. He had turned his back on the spy business, and returned to journalism. But the spy syndicate wasn't done with him yet, and after he agreed to go back into the field for a new mission in the Middle East, Coleman learned what it was like to be an enemy of the United States.
This First U.S. Edition includes a new Foreword by Lester Knox Coleman and excerpts from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decisions in Pan Am Airlines' appeal from the trial court verdict, including the stinging dissent by Justice Van Graafeiland that calls into question the evidentiary basis for the verdict that ended Pan Am's corporate existence and aborted further inquiry into the U.S. government's role in the disaster.
From the jacket cover, First U.K Edition:
Lester Knox Coleman is a man who knows too much.
An American spy on the run, he knows too much about the Lockerbie disaster. He knows too much about terrorist activities in the Middle East. He knows too much about American's ultra-secretive Defense Intelligence Agency.
Hunted by his own government, Coleman has been forced to seek asylum in Sweden.
In Trail of the Octopus Coleman tells all he knows -- not from any wish to betray his country but in order to survive, to give himself, his wife and their three young children some hope of a normal life. Once his knowledge is made public, there should be no further reason for Washington to seek to silence him.
Trail of the Octopus is the story of the biggest international cover-up in modern times.
Lester Knox Coleman is the first American citizen since the Vietnam war to seek political asylum in another country. Hounded by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Middle East heroin traffickers, Coleman is a victim of the biggest international cover-up in modern times.
In the spring of 1988 Coleman was on a mission for the world's most secretive and well-funded espionage organization -- The Defense Intelligence Agency. Coleman had been ordered to spy on the DEA in Cyprus which, along with the CIA, was running a series of 'controlled deliveries' of Lebanese heroin through the airports of Frankfurt and London en route to America. Coleman discovered that the security of this 'sting' operation had been breached and warned the American embassy that a disaster was waiting to happen. He was ignored. Seven months later, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie. Among the dead was a DEA courier.
Over the last four years Washington has ensured that the blame for the bombing rests with Libyan terrorists and negligent Pan Am officials. With Pan Am and their insurers fighting this version all the way, it was never likely that Coleman's experiences in Cyprus would go unnoticed. In 1991 America's state security apparatus -- the 'optopus' -- made its move.
Trail of the Octopus is a gripping investigation into the causes of the Lockerbie disaster and the subsequent manipulation of the evidence. It is a revelatory insight into the rival American intelligence agencies and their use of Middle East drug traffickers and terrorists. And it is the story of a man who became a prisoner of his own knowledge.
A Londoner by birth, Donald Goddard lived in the US for ten years, for eight of them as an editor at the New York Times. He is the author of numerous critically acclaimed bestsellers, including Joey, The Last Days of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, All Fall Down, Undercover and The Insider.
