The Big 'Allivane-Astra' Picture. The Trail of Illegal Weapons Sold To Iran And Iraq Starts In Washington And London
Greg Szymanski – Arctic Beacon January 30, 2006
The devil's playground in the Arab sand over the last 25 years has provided crooked politicians on both sides of the Atlantic a handsome profit. While hundreds of thousands of innocents have died a bloody death, the "masters of evil" in the illegal arms trade continue to sell their "dirty toys" under the cover of darkness and through a system of secret companies hidden from public scrutiny.
Many have died trying to expose their wicked game, including microbiologist Dr. David Kelly (2003) and Gerald Bull (1990), the former chairman of the Space Research Corporation.
Although both deaths remain suspicious and never thoroughly investigated, Dr. Kelly and Bull were extremely close and casting a dark light on the clandestine, illegal money-raising deals by U.S. and UK politicians in arming Iraq in Iran.
And in the specific case of Bull, he was in the midst of revealing when he turned up dead, the beneficiaries of "commissions," many of the recipients being high level politicians in Washington and London.
Even though observers close to Dr. Kelly and Bull have so solid evidence they were killed, it's interesting to note that most of the pair's damaging information has been redacted from official records, silenced by corrupted courts or kept from public view through a compliant press.
But whatever the sad case may be, it's obvious these "dirty politicians," doing the devil's handy work are hiding "something big and play for keeps."
And it's obvious from the results of the "killing fields" in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, they function only for power and profit with absolutely no conscience, not only killing innocents on the battlefield but killing-off those who get too close to exposing their "dirty games," as these killer-crooks live under the devilish credo of "what's one more drop of blood matter when the whole world is painted a bloody red anyway."
However, for the public record and for the world to know, there is a bulk of evidence showing these "masters of evil" not only include those Middle East leaders in collusion with the West, but those in power in Washington and London. Although some evidence has come forward, much of the incriminating files and documentation have been fiercely protected to this day, as these devilish politicians know all too well that the rancid odor of warm blood and rotting body parts from the illegal arms trade follows curious path right into 10 Downing Street and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The Arming of Iraq and Iran
As Saddam Hussein sits rotting in a Baghdad jail awaiting a hangman's noose, the last thing Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush wants is for Hussein to spill the beans, tell the truth and talk.
They want him out of the picture since he could add even more damaging information to the solid body of evidence that over the period of 1982-90 Iraq and Iran were supplied by the U.S. and UK with WMD, including biological cultures and chemical precursors of nerve gases and radioactive material, including caesium-137.
John J. Drewe in 2003, noted the UK and U.S. were the major suppliers of these weapons and that details of the underlying contracts with overseas companies like Allivane International Limited and Astra Holdings PLC, pinning officials to the illegal sales, were beginning to surface in the 1980's, but have since been forgotten, as politicians have been mostly successful in quieting whistleblowers, bribing the courts and controlling the media.
One example Drewe calls attention to, saying it reveals only the tip of the iceberg of how UK/U.S. politicians profited, points to the fact how UK officials denied in 1992 awarding Iraq billions of Pounds of export credits to purchase weapons. But in February 2003 the government was caught lying when certain relevant paper, perhaps inadvertently declassified, disclosed some of the truth behind the illegal arms deals with Iran and Iraq.
An important aside also surfaced in 1999 in the UK saying that Drewe had spent over 18 months in custody awaiting trial. He was later sentenced to six years in prison for art fraud after having his assets frozen and deprived sufficient access to counsel, according to legal observers.
Back then, sketchy reports surfaced and it was alleged that there was an arms scandal behind the art fraud case, which eventually silenced Drewe. Throughout the case, Drewe claimed that he had been set up as fall guy for a widespread conspiracy that included Scotland Yard, the Ministry of Defense and the governments of at least seven nations he helped broker between British weapons manufacturers and Iran, Iraq
As is usual in such cases, the news media jumped to the defense of the State, presenting Drewe in a bad light. However, despite the bad press, he had his vocal supporters.
Gerald James, former Astra chairman, who avoided a long prison sentence in the Matrix Churchill arms-related case by showing that he had acted with the approval of the Ministry of Defense, offered evidence for three hours in Drewe's defense. Geoffrey Scriven also offered to give evidence that the Lord Chancellor secretly briefed judges and the courts have been corrupted regarding the Drewe matter.
And while the legal tensions mounted, the government back then quickly denied Drewe and other whistle blower allegations that Allivane International Limited ever existed, although records clearly showed it was formed in 1982 and traded until 1988.
Drewe also presented documentary evidence proving the existence and that Allivane was a front for British Special Intelligence Services, exporting arms to both Iraq and Iran. The company was also mentioned in the Scott report, most of which suppressed by the government.
Why Did UK and U.S. Partner-Up?
Behind the legal wrangling and government whitewashing, the motive behind selling weapons to the Middle East is simple: war is a profitable game. And the means to distribute, of course, is to then create a system complex, undetectable companies to first manufacture the weapons, then get them safely to the Middle East without UN detection and then, of course, repay politicians through handsome "commissions" with laundered money transferred secretly under the financial radar screen.
But how and why did the U.S. and UK partner-up to make this happen back in the early 1980's?
The plan, according to Drewe and others, originated in Washington as a joint UK/U.S. venture. On Dec. 17, 1983, information surfaced that Donald Rumsfeld delivered a letter from President Ronald Reagan to Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, as an agreement was reached between the two countries whereby Iraq would be supplied with munitions, including biological chemical and WMD, as well as being provided with loans from a U.S. bank.
To verify this trip, Howard Teicher, advisor to the U.S. National Security Council on the Middle East (1982-87), accompanied Rumsfeld and filed a subsequent 1995 affidavit swearing to the trip and the American deal to sell weapons to Iraq.
However, Rumsfeld and Reagan, two of the alleged private beneficiaries of the illegal weapon sales, had a problem. They had a big problem since UN arms embargoes were rigorously being enforced in the U.S., unlike in Europe.
So to avoid public scrutiny, they had to figure out a way to provide an alternative route for the illegal export of American munitions. To reach this diabolical end, the U.S. then set up a number of "front" companies" in Europe, in coordination with the CIA, MI6 and the UK's DTI and Foreign Office.
One such "front company," according to financial researchers silenced by the compliant press, crooked courts and bogus national security claims, was Allivane International Limited, which in 1983 received start-up money in the form of a grant from the British government. Contracts were then awarded to Allivane that in turn supplied Iraq with vast quantities of ammunition and weaponry conveniently manufactured in the U.S.
Drewe and several other financial researchers pointed out around this time a British arms company, Astra Holdings plc, grew as it was awarded lucrative contracts by the American government through the British embassy in Washington.
He added that between 1985 and 1990 Astra was the subcontractor to Allivane for the supply of GB Pounds billions-worth of munitions to both Iraq and Iran.
"Astra was then one of the UK arms companies targeted for destruction as the Iran-Iraq war ended," wrote Drewe in a report that has never surfaced in the mainstream press or in official proceedings concerning the illegal arms sales. Atsra records also show its board was compromised by Stefan Kock, a support agent for both the Security and Intelligence Services (MI6), in his capacity as consultant for the Midland Bank. He orchestrated the supply of armaments through "front" companies in deals of which the board remained ignorant, and which did not appear on the Astra books.
Drewe continued:
"The existing paper trail demonstrates that consignments of munitions, chemicals and radioactive material were sent from America to the Faldingworth depot of Astra Defence Systems, and then on to destinations such as the Al Fao organisation in Baghdad. Gerald James, the former chairman of Astra Holdings, obtained the labels marked Al Fao, with evidence of instructions from Rexon that they should be removed before the shipment left Faldingworth.
"All the Astra files, appropriated in seventeen raids by the Ministry of Defense Police and DTI personnel on the offices of the former chairman, Gerald James, are held secret by the DTI. They show huge "commissions" paid on these off-balance-sheet deals, their amounts and their recipients.
"These files are among a body of documentation which is being fiercely protected by government officials, to this day, from every attempt to bring them into public scrutiny. The government is succeeding in its efforts only because it has the benefit of collusion by the courts. This did emerge in the Scott report. Although the courts were aware that those being prosecuted of breaching the arms embargo were doing so on the instructions of the government, they allowed this information to be withheld "in the public interest".
Former Astra Chairman Speaks Out Backing Drewe: Why Is Nobody Listening?
Before dissecting the complex interrelationships among the "front companies," the many political and private players on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Bush family, Rumsfeld, Reagan, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, her many level officials, Kock's vital role as MI6 infiltrator and overseer, the suppression of the infamous but little known Scott Report, the role of Peter Levine as former British defense official made chairman of Lloyd's of London, it's wise to look at the public statement made by former Astra Holdings PLC Chairman from 1980-90, Gerald Reaveley James, head of the company which became a leading ammunition and weapons manufacture and supplier to Iraq and Iran.
Much of James' statements regarding the Scott Report and the corrupt British legal system have never been adequately reported by the compliant press or followed up by investigators, as it appears to have fallen into the same "deep black hole" where Dr. Kelly and Bull's illegal arms sales information has also been laid to rest.
Before reading James's lengthy comments, remember the Scott Report he refers to has for the most part been suppressed from the public record, as well as the MI6 and CIA role in overseeing the illegal arms deals and the money trail leading back to the U.S. and UK politicians who put the whole devious plan together.
Although James's statements, made as an invited guest and speaker at a UK conference of the Environmental Law Center, are lengthy and only one man's recollection and experience, they are left with only a few insignificant deletions for clarity due to the past suppression of information on this aspect of the sale of arms to Iran and Iraq and his role as Chairman of the company in the middle of the illegal deals.
A more in depth look story of Astra can be found in James' little known book, published in the UK by Little Brown, called "In the Public Interest."
Here are his statements:
"I am reminded of the very appropriate quote from Edmund Burke (1729-97) "It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph."
"The Astra case and my case reflect much that has been to the fore in recent years in not only scandals around arms companies like Astra, Matrix Churchill, Ordtec, Forgemasters, Walter Somers, Ferranti and other companies like Polly Peck, BCCI and Maxwell but also in the Scott Inquiry, the BSE Inquiry and the Lloyds of London affair and other scandals. The underlying problem is secret unaccountable government which bypasses Parliament and how the law is administered in the UK, gives aid and succor to such a state of affairs. The most common device is the concealment of evidence and manipulation of cases. There is a tendency when challenged for those in authority to talk of conspiracy theories. My experience is that those who do so are usually part of the conspiracy.
"My company Astra gave rise to much of the circumstances which created the Scott Inquiry, the Supergun revelations (we reported it first), the Aitken affair, the murder of Gerald Bull in Brussels in March 1990 and much else.
"Until March 1990 and between 1980 and 1990 I was chairman of Astra Holdings PLC ("Astra") which became a leading ammunition and weapons manufacturer. By the late 1980's Astra had factories in the United States (9), Canada (2), Belgium (5), United Kingdom (5) and administrative headquarters in Washington Dc, Brussels and London and employed 4,000 personnel.
"Astra became involved in covert weapons and ammunitions operations organised by MI5 and MI6 and the CIA, the MOD, DOD, FCO and the State Department and the DTI. To such an extent was Astra involved with its principal subsidiaries, Walters, Accudyne, Kilgore USA PRB Belgium, BMARC UK; in the covert trade manipulations of Foreign Policy. In 1989/90, following a reappraisal of Foreign Policy in the light of the demise of the Cold War and changing circumstances in the Middle East, where it became apparent the US, UK and EEC had transferred Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons technology as well as conventional weapons to countries like Iran and Iraq, and the discovery Pakistan had the atomic bomb, the whole covert network was reorganized.
"This involved the collapsing of companies like Astra, Ferranti/ISC, Polly Peck, BCCI, Maxwell Group etc and the prosecution of lesser fry Companies and their directors ~ companies like Matrix Churchill, BNJ, Ordtec, Euromac, SRC, Forgemasters, Walter Somers are examples. The directors of Astra were to a large extent ignorant of the full range of covert activities carried out in their name but aware of some of these activities and the likely destination of their goods. As however all operations were sanctioned by the DTI, MOD, FCO, and in the U.S. by the DOD and the State Department and in Belgium by the Belgian Government, not too many questions were raised initially.
"However, in late 1988 and 1989 it became clear to me as Chairmen that the clandestine operations far exceeded anything remotely sanctioned by the full Board and I set out to investigate in depth. I became aware that certain plants were used to secretly store and ship goods; that monies were being transferred to other operations without book records or board approval in secret commission payments; that our paper work and parallel bank accounts were being used to process arms shipments from major UK defense companies like British Aerospace, Royal Ordnance, GEC Marconi, Thorn EMI etc. A leading British Defence Journalist wrote a report which was largely kept secret which indicated 100m was stolen from the Export Credit Guarantee Department ("ECGD") in a fictitious subcontract for propellant which BMARC, an Astra subsidiary, had secretly obtained in 1998 from Royal Ordnance.
"I also became concerned about payments to and business with MI6/CIA front company Allivane which had occurred between 1983 and 1988 via Astra. Is also became clear that all our main operations were involved in covert operations in the USA, Belgium and the UK, and that Astra, when it acquired these companies, had inherited a hard core of MI6, MI5, DIA agents who operated behind the back of the original directors and who treated them as "useful idiots".
"All our main companies were involved with Space Research Corporation ("SRC") and the late Dr Gerald Bull who was behind the Supergun and other secret projects which Astra companies were also involved in. In 1989 I realized we had a hugely dangerous individual on our main Board and the BMARC Board who was an MI6 agent.
"This individual, Stepahnus Adolphus Kock had high level political connections to Thatcher, Hesletine, Younger, Hanley, etc as well as MI5 and MI6 connections. It is now clear to me that he was involved in the murder of Dr Gerald Bull in Brussels on 22nd march 1990 and Jonathan Moyle in Santiago, Chile on 31st March 1990. BMARC was the only company outside the Atomic Weapons research Establishment and Government Arms depots with the capability to store nuclear bombs like Redbeard and WE177.
"By early 1990 my probing had become a major problem and a plot was hatched to remove me as Chairman shortly before the Supergun and other revelations and Bull's murder. A new dummy board was formed in reality by Kock with two MI6/MI5 stooges ran the company into the ground over the next two years. In order to explain away the destruction of the company with a 350m order book and a market capitalization of 120m desperate attempts were made to find evidence of malpractice by the original directors. Gumbley, my Managing Director, who had been with Bull until an hour before he was shot had discussed with Bull suing UK Government and senior civil servants using Bull's extensive knowledge of high level corruption and illegal operations.
"It had been agreed I would return with Gumbley to agree with lawyers how to proceed a week later. I had discussed such matters with Bull some six months previous but no further action had been taken. Gumbley was immediately framed up for corrupting an MOD official and jailed for 9 months and after desperately trying to find something on me and failing, Kock and MI6/MI5 decided to institute through Peter Lilley and the DTI a DTI Inquiry. Lilley was Secretary of state at the DTI at the time.
"The DTI Inquiry lasted three years and cost 2.5m plus (as much as the Scott Inquiry). The announcement of the Inquiry and the misleading press statements issued by the DTI and Government ensured the downfall of Astra. Crooks and MI5, MI6, agents or informers were put in charge of Astra, including Kock, Roy Barber FCA and Tony McCann. Barber and McCann whose managerial and industrial competence and experience were negligible paid themselves 330,000 and 280,000 respectively. Barber took 100,000 in the first month. Barber's annual payment was more than I received in salary and expenses as Chairman over ten years while I built the company. PRB was sold off immediately for 3m to avoid embarrassing revelations. MI5, MI6 and MOD police and Customs launched 17 raids on Astra premises in order to steal any sales and other documentation incriminating Government.
"No new orders were obtained in spite of the Gulf War and the company ran on the 350m order book we had left for two years, before it was put into receivership on 2nd February 1992 on the eve of me giving evidence to the House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee re Supergun, Project Babylon and arms to Iraq (and Iran etc). Press coverage was hue and adverse. This facilitated, as clearly city interests like Banks and Astra's main shareholders 3i, Prudential and Clerical and medical cooperated with Government for their own interest and purposes against the interests of smaller shareholders ( a parallel with Lloyds techniques).
"Kock had a cover as a consultant in Midland Bank's secret arms department, Midland and Industrial Trade Services ("MITS"). This was staffed by ex service officers, MI5, MI6, agents and intelligence affiliated bankers. Midland with the Bank of Boston were Astra's main bankers and dominated by MI6 CIA agents. Kock was also said to be head of Group 13, the Government's assassination and dirty tricks squad according to Richard John Rainey Unwin, a close associate of Knock himself who was a contract MI6 agent and Consultant to Astra. Kock and Unwin, with Martin Laing Construction, negotiated the 2bn Malaysian defence deal before George Younger, the Defense Secretary even knew of it.
"The MOD police arrested several of my colleagues, framed Grumbley up. I was subjected to harassment, burglaries; I was arrested by Customs, investigated by the Inland Revenue, subjected to surveillance, threats, bugging, telephone tapping (all documented), a DTI Inquiry which lasted 3 years and a DTI prosecution which lasted 4 years. In addition I had to give copious evidence to the Scott Inquiry over 4 years, 2 DTI Select Committees, Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Defense Select Committee, Public Accounts Select Committee, Public Services Select committee, Police (SOI), a huge law suit in the United States (Dooley case). My family suffered considerably, my two eldest sons army careers suffered, my youngest son's education because of adverse publicity, my brother was killed in an accident never satisfactory explained which could have been intended for me.
In the course of my own experiences I took considerable note and interest in parallel cases like Matrix Churchill, Ordtec, Euromac, Atlantic Commercial, BNJ, SRC, Forgemasters, Walter Somers, Polly Peck, Foxley Ferranti/ISC, BCCI, Maxwell etc. All these cases and others and the Astra case involved the gross abuse of power by Government and its agencies and servants, concealment of key evidence, intimidation, threats, false and selective prosecutions, manipulation of evidence, perversion of the course of justice. It has also been clearly demonstrated that there is no separation of powers within the United Kingdom. Key legal appointments like Lord Chancellor and attorney General, Solicitor General are wholly political.
"It has also been clearly demonstrated that Parliament has no control of knowledge of events and that a vast apparatus of permanent unelected Government exists. This permanent Government consists of senior civil servants, intelligence and security officers, key figures in certain city and financial institutions (including Lloyds of London), key industrialists and directors of major monopolistic companies, senior politicians. The Lord Chancellors Office which is responsible for the appointment of Judges, Clerks of the House of Commons select Committees and approval of Chairmen of such committees and the approval of the Queen's Counsel, holds a total control of the legal administrative framework and has strong connections to the security and intelligence services.
"We have seen from the arms to Iran, Iraq affairs, the Sandline affair and other scandals that politicians and Parliament have little or no control and are more like players in a pantomime put on for the general public and gullible public.
"Secrecy breeds corruption, secrecy is power, information is power particularly confidential information. There is no accountability and the calibre of MP deteriorates with each Parliament. The young politician with no experience outside is naive and powerless and many now have a blind loyalty to their party. Ironically the hereditary peers of the House of Lords provided one of the last vestiges of honesty and independence now largely destroyed by self-important and self-deluding figures like Blair and Baroness Jay.
"It has never been more vital for people to challenge the views of politicians and opinion formers. We live in an age where much if not most of the media is controlled. The legal mechanism and Judges and the court system need to be beyond reproach. Sadly they are not and the chronicle of abuse and manipulation of cases is appalling. Judges are not independent in most government related cases and are no different to salaried and pensioned civil servants. The independence of the Judiciary is an allusion fostered by the Judiciary. Too often a Judicial Inquiry is a system for cover up and concealment. Too often the courts are influenced by political considerations as in the Scott Inquiry and the recent Lloyds of London case. Perhaps with pressure this can be changed."
Editor's Note: Read part II Tuesday how Gerald Bull's sworn statement before his death, never investigated, nails high level politicians with setting up an intricate scheme to get away with huge commissions while selling illegal weapons to Iran and Iraq. Also, see how Lord Peter Levene, former British Defense Secretary and made Lloyd's of London chairman in 2002, plays a pivotal role in the weapons sales. And there is much, much more.
The Devil Is in The Details But Crooked Politicians Are Devious At Hiding Their Dirty Work in the Illegal Arms Sales To Iran And Iraq
By Greg Szymanski – Arctic Beacon.com January 31, 2006
The body count in the Middle East since the UK and U.S. supplied the area with illegal arms in the 1980's is staggering. The exact number is unknown, as official counts have been manipulated. But it's safe to say hundreds of thousands, mostly innocent men, women, children and elderly, have been needlessly slaughtered in barbaric fashion.
The battle in the Arab sand is, in fact, the ultimate testament of man's inhumanity to man.
It is also the ultimate testament of how UK and U.S. foreign policy has not facilitated peace, but instead provoked war by providing the very weapons that have kept the bloody conflict going on for decades.
But hard evidence to nail the "masters of evil" in the arms trade has always been hidden.
In fact, solid proof that high level U.S. and UK officials illegally profited from massive sales of biological, chemical and WMD weaponry to Iran and Iraq has always been conveniently swept under the rug by corrupt courts and a compliant media.
And these public servants acting without a conscience, serving evil not good, have given crooked Western politicians like Thatcher, Reagan, Bush, Blair, Rumsfeld and their many loyal minions a free ride to collect handsome commissions through "front companies" as well as a free ride to continue to do the devil's dirty work - to this very day - by selling illegal arms throughout the world.
Although flimsy evidence has surfaced in the past to nail the scoundrels, most of the incriminating evidence has been successfully buried by the White House and 10 Downing St., buried in the form of people "who knew too much and were about to talk" or through using MI6 and CIA muscle to hide or destroy incriminating documentation.
As the war against Iraq rages on today and politicians try to justify the Western attack, one significant factor is being kept secret - the Scott Report - a factor which known could put all the "masters of evil' behind bars.
In fact, several whistle blowers - two who may have been murdered - say "the smoking gun" that could blow the lid off the entire arms scandal relates directly to the Scott Report on the "Arms to Iraq" affair of the mid-90's and to those aspects that Sir Richard Scott omitted from his report submitted in the UK.
The report kept secret also was referred to as "proof positive" by both microbiologist Dr. David Kelley and Gerald Bull, two whistle blowers suspiciously killed for trying to go public about the details of how governments on both sides of the Atlantic provided Iraq and Iran with illegal weaponry.
And both the UK and U.S governments are still hiding these explosive documents in hopes the affair is ultimately forgotten with the passage of time. In fact, observers suggest that is why Kelley and Bull were killed, as they were getting too close to the ticking time bomb buried in the details of the Scott Report.
Further, savvy politicians realized if the details were ever made public it would mean the end to their scam and immediately expose how the Western public paid for the arms enabling Iraq to fight Iran during their long war of the 1980's, as well as showing how politicians profited handsomely.
Although much of the Scott Report is under lock and key, it was revealed how the UK in complicity with the U.S. was breaching UN embargo guideline regarding weapons supplied to Iraq. However, what remained hidden according to several whistle blowers, was the massive size of the breach and the financial trails implicating high level politicians.
However, according to whistle blower John Drewe, some of the "telling clues" to the secrets in the Scott Report have already entered the public domain.
"Some telling clues did enter the public domain. These were such events as the prosecution in 1992 of the directors of Matrix Churchill for breaching the UK arms embargo on supplying arms to Iraq, as described above," said Drewe. "After government lawyers connived to withhold evidence in several fabricated prosecutions which barely reached the public domain, directors were convicted and imprisoned. All later had their convictions quashed.
"The reports showing that they were acting on government instructions, and that what they had supplied was not in fact embargoed, were withheld from the defense. After these men and women had been convicted and served prison sentences, secret government memoranda came to light showing how their convictions had been secured by fabricating evidence - with the knowledge of prosecuting lawyers, including Alan Moses and Andrew Collins. It may be significant that lawyers such as Sir Alan Moses and Sir Andrew Collins, who were involved in these trials, were made judges and selected to preside over the trials of those with knowledge of the export of weapons to Iraq and Iran. Moses judged David Shayler (2003). Collins judged Mohammed Hashemi (1999), who organized the supply of Iran with munitions from America and the UK over the period 1979-91."
"Another skirmish which reached public awareness was the "Supergun" affair, as referred to above. Gerald Bull, a weapons scientist, founded the Space Research Corporation (SRC), which by 1985 was making a significant contribution to Iraqi weaponry, such as new types of gun and extended-range ammunition. In 1988 SRC started Project 839 ("Project Babylon"), the construction of a 1000mm artillery piece with a range of 700 km. The public became aware of this when executives of Walter Somers and Sheffield Forgemasters, companies involved in the manufacture of the gun barrels, were arrested in 1990. The aspect of the "Supergun" affair which attracted rather less media attention was what happened to Bull. He was murdered in Belgium in 1990."
Was Gerald Bull Killed For Giving This Sworn Statement, Among Other Sensitive Inside Information He Was To Reveal
Further, a sworn affidavit signed by Bull on Jan. 17, 1990, before his death in a bloody fashion, his body found with two or three bullet wounds to the back of the head, revealed how payments were made from the Iranian Defense Dept. to Sir Gordon Reese on behalf of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with U.S. government complicity.
"In March, 1987, I had two meetings with John Cuckney, one of the advisors to Margaret Thatcher on the Iraqi contracts, personally arranged for the Midland International Trade Services (Defense Equipment Finance Department) to advance the loans for the project?Cuckney told me he had been authorized by the Prime Minister, to whom he reported directly.
"I should explain I was left in no doubt that Thatcher was also being briefed by Gordon Reese, who was advising her on the contracts with both Iran and Iraq?
"Cuckney arranged for Midland to advance SRC, via NM Rothschild and Galverston Securities, 60 percent of the cost of the first stage of Project 839. In November 1988, Midland entered into a contract with Amir Saadi to completely underwrite the purchase of the propellant from PRB for the said project. Herve de Carmoy having personally initiated negotiations. In 1988, de Carmoy moved from his post as Director of the International Banking Division to the Midland Bank to SGB and became Managing Director of Gechem owners of PRB. I was given assurance by by de Carmoy in January 1989 that SGB would allow SRC to purchase PRB. (Details of Midland Bank and Amir Saadi negotiations contained in exhibit marked GVB 12).
"On Aug. 14, 1989, I was informed that Peter Levine, the director of defense, had personally intervened to prevent this acquisition by SRC. I telephoned Cuckney and explained the position. Cuckney assured me that the instructions came from Margaret Thatcher personally, after the United States government had made strong representations. I had advised Cuckney that he and the Thatcher family had received some of the largest payments from the Iraq contracts in order to secure future success of the projects. Cuckney then advised me there was a policy reappraisal. He said he would make sure the points I had raised were brought to the attention of the right people and that in the meantime I should avoid discussing these matters with anyone if I was not to prejudice my opinion."
Lord Peter Levene, Former British Defense Secretary made Lloyd's of London Chairman in 2002, Pivotal Role in the Illegal Arms Trade
According to credible UK sources, Peter Levene, now Lord Levene of Portspoken, made Lloyd's of London chairman in 2002, performed a top level and pivotal role in the illegal supply of weaponry to UN embargoed destinations from 1985 until after the first Gulf War. Observers note one unfortunate consequence of these illegal and clandestine arrangements was that the American and British soldiers sent to Gulf War I found themselves being attacked by weaponry made in Birmingham UK and plants across the U.S.
Levene denies the allegations like the other crooked politicians involved in the scheme. However, Sir William Jaffray of London in February of 2004 provided the following documentation, proving there is a reason to believe otherwise.
Jaffray's explosive comments point a strong finger at Lord Levene's role in the illegal arms trade, as well as his role in Lloyd's of London, in turn, protected against a massive investor fraud suit regarding withholding the devastating outcome of asbestos litigation about bankrupt the huge insurance carrier without proper investor disclosure.
Here is a portion of Jaffray's statements which have received little or no press attention or official investigation follow-up:
"In 1991, Levene authorized the supply of 1500 units of the Precision Guidance System (PGS) to CATIC of the People's Republic of China. A UK company, ISC-Ferranti, collapsed in 1989. The PGS was an inertial guidance system, which can be fitted to a missile to guide it accurately to its target. These units were ex-Ferranti stock and Mohammed Hashemi, the representative of the Iranian Defense Industries (IDI), arranged with the MOD in London the onward supply to the P.R. China, and thence to Iran. The entire transaction has been fully documented, including the identities of the officials of IDI, and the sums of money paid via Iranian banks. This state-of-the-art missile delivery system was secretly delivered to one of the world's most brutal theocracies. In 1991, Chinese and North Korean technicians modified the Iranian Scud II missiles to carry a warhead of 1000 Kg over a distance of 1500 Km with accurate guidance from the PGS supplied by the UK. A proportion of these units was shipped to N. Korea as part of the joint project. The Iranian Shooting Star missile, carrying a much larger warhead and with an increased range, also incorporates this PGS. It is the UK which is responsible for the ability of Iranian missiles to reach Israel and Saudi Arabia.
"The evidence that the UK supplied China and Iran with the PGS, and that this transaction was authorized by Peter Levene, has been concealed from the public. There is overwhelming evidence, running to hundreds of pages of documents, which demonstrates how effectively the facts have been hidden. This is exemplified by the Savill memorandum of 22 June 1995, stating that the MOD and DTI agreed on a policy that no information would be supplied to Parliament on the subject of weapons sold to foreign customers by Astra Defense Systems.
"Gerald Bull and Terence Byrne have both filed statements specifically alleging that the officials and politicians pocketed large sums of money, listed as 'commissions', on the sale of weapons to Iran and Iraq. One of the named officials is Peter Levene. One named politician is Margaret Thatcher. The allegations are very specific, and are echoed by the Iranians and Iraqis who paid the money into the offshore companies set up by relations of Levene and Thatcher.
"In autumn 2002, Peter Levene was put in charge of Lloyd's, a government appointment. He came equipped with deep knowledge of the arms business, if not the insurance business. After the catastrophe of the black hole arising from the export credit defaults on arms exports, the UK government needed an alternative source of credit to maintain its arms export business.
"It became evident that the government needed Lloyd's for political purposes. By 1995/96 the Treasury & Civil Service Committee had quietly dropped its inquiry into the losses incurred by Lloyd's. At this time, all 51 Conservative MPs with debts to Lloyd's had been written off, thus rescuing the Major government from collapse. Lloyd's had siphoned off some 34 million from other Names or investors. Fifteen MPs were saved from imminent bankruptcy. This matter was brought to the attention of Parliament in a letter written by opposition MP, Peter Hain (now Leader of the House of Commons), to John Major. Hain pointed out that the MPs had benefited from retrospective stop loss policies. This is of course embezzlement. Also implicated was Thatcher's Attorney-General, Sir Nicholas Lyell.
"Further, Lloyd's received reassurance from the government that it would be protected from charges of fraud. In this, the judiciary was enlisted. Those judges who were members of Lloyd's received special terms in the wording of their settlement agreements, though the nature and extent of any similar financial pay-off is not yet known. Thus Judge Cresswell produced a judgment in November 2000 acquitting Lloyd's of all charges of impropriety. It is likely that Cresswell's ruling reflected the position at a higher level, probably the Privy Council, where a fraud judgment on Lloyd's would certainly not be viewed as 'in the national interest'. Indeed, as John Mays (a Lloyd's man in charge of the Equitas reserving project) observed to a Name in 1998, litigation in the British and European courts would be futile.
"In his role as arms procurer during the mass illegal supply of UK weaponry to embargoed countries alone, Peter Levene is indictable for crimes (along with many others). His bringing into the Lloyd's fold, as an individual with no particular insurance expertise, arouses suspicions as to the exploitation of the expertise he does bring."
More Proof of High-Level Corruption
In March 2005, a Netherlands prosecutor reported that a man by the name of Frans van Anraat was a middle man with high-level British and American connections, alleged to have supplied thousands of tons of agents for poison gas to the former Iraqi government in the 1980-88 war with Iran and against its own Kurdish people.
Van Anraat is suspected of having had direct contact with Iraqi authorities and using front companies of British and American origin, working through a Panamanian company based in Lugano, Switzerland, according to the international probe which led to his arrest.
UN weapons inspection agencies have described Van Anraat as one of the most important middlemen in Iraq 's acquisition of chemical weapons raw materials.
An article by Richard Norton-Taylor in the Guardian (1999) reports on purchases made by Tagell UK Ltd on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mohammed Hashemi (aka Jamsid Naini) was a director of a UK registered company, located at 12, Roebuck House, Stag Place, London S.W.1. This company, according to Norton-Taylor's article, was set up with the knowledge and consent of th Ministry of Defense to enable the UK to supply covertly defense equipment to Iran with total complicity with the U.S. government.
The report refers to the purchase by the UK of false end-user certificates, and the construction of motor gun-boats for the Naval Division of the Iranian revolutionary guard. Hashemi has provided evidence of how the motor gun-boats were tested at Portsmouth by the Royal Navy and how the procurement department at the Ministry of Defense supervised the project.
Regarding the role of high-level officials in London and Washington, the use of MI6 and CIA undercover agents and Lord Levene's role, Jaffray added:
"It was the U.K. which supplied Iran with WMDs and the missile guidance systems to deliver these weapons. Tagell UK Ltd was the vehicle set up to implement this policy. Kock, a serving member of the SIS, refers specifically to the role of the UK government at the highest possible level. Indeed the memoranda disclosed by the SIS demonstrates Kock's importance to them, and his role in acting for the SIS in the Supergun supplied to Iraq, and as a director of the arms manufacturer, Astra Holdings and Astra Defence Systems (BMARC). The claim that Peter Levene tendered advice regarding the contracts negotiated by Tagell UK Ltd is contained in a body of documentation which includes the trading records of this company.
"It should be noted that these records refer to commission payments to U.K. politicians and officials. Typically, the money was paid to members of their families for 'consultancy fees.' Although it has been admitted that politicians in France, Germany, and Italy accepted bribes through members of their families, the gagging orders imposed by judges such as Andrew Collins, prevent the information about Tagell UK Ltd from reaching the public domain in the U.K.
"Finally, Hashemi has noted that large quantities of munitions were supplied to Iraq via Saudi Arabia under the Al-Yamamah contract with the United Kingdom. According to Phillip Sales, senior Treasury Counsel, all the details of this contract will remain known to only two people. The intention of officials to deceive the British people is contained in document no 7 which speaks for itself.
"It should never be forgotten that corrupt politicians and officials lined their pockets with commissions on weapons exported to embargoed countries in breach of international law. And the British taxpayer continues to be punished with extortionate stealth taxes to make up a loss of between 73 Billion and 120 Billion of U.K. overseas assets dissipated in support of this illegal trade."
Editor's Note: Read Part III Wednesday as MI6 internal documents are revealed, confirming government corruption at the highest levels concerning weapons sold to Iran and Iraq. Also, see internal Astra Holdings PLC documents, listing millions of commissions paid, a handsome portion then funneled down to the crooked politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who originally put the devious arms-sales plan together.
MI6 secret documents and Astra Commission Documents Reveal How Politicians Reaped Huge Profits Off Illegal Middle East Arms Sales
By Greg Szymanski – Arctic Beacon February 1, 2006
MI6 and CIA infiltration of the government's illegal arms trade is vital so plans go off without a hitch.
In the case of the shipments to Iraq and Iran starting in the early 1980's, Western politicians used numerous agents, but none were more important than MI6 agent Stephan Kock.
Former Astra Holdings PLC Chairman, Gerald Reaveley James, the head of a company used by Western politicians to bypass UN embargoes to get illegal arms to Iraq and Iran, exposed Kock's MI6 cover as a consultant working in Midland Bank's secret arms department, Midland and Industrial Trade Services (MITS), overseeing the financial operations for one of the main lending institutions.
James also had firsthand knowledge that the MITS office was staffed by numerous ex-intelligence officers, MI5 and MI6 agents and government-compromised bankers. At the time of the arms shipments to Iran, Midland and the Bank of Boston were Astra's main bankers and dominated by MI6 and CIA agents.
"Kock was also said to be head of Group 13, the government's assassination and dirty tricks squad according to Richard John Rainey Unwin, a close associate of Kock himself who was a contract MI6 agent and Consultant to Astra. Kock and Unwin, with Martin Laing Construction, negotiated the 2 billion Pound Malaysian defense deal before George Younger, the Defense Secretary even knew about of it," said James about his knowledge of Kock's shady dealings.
Besides James, several other arms whistle blowers called attention to Kock's undercover activities, alleging they also had firsthand knowledge during the 1980's he was representing himself as a consultant for Midland Bank.
Although hearsay evidence even from credible sources is often doubted, the following hard evidence should lay to rest any doubts to Kock's role and his assignment to make sure the arms deals went of "quietly and without a hitch," as well as making sure large "kickback commissions" got back to politicians in London and Washington unnoticed.
In a letter dated June 16, 1989, on Midland Bank stationary, sent from Kock to Mohammed Hashemi, a representative of the Iranian Defense Ministry and of Tagell UK Limited, a major company working with Astra in the arms trade to Iraq and Iran, consultant Kock reassures Hashemi high level British officials, including Lord Peter Levene, were "making sure" the CATIC arms contract to the Middle East would "proceed smoothly."
"I am writing to thank you and your colleague, Mr. Dastjerdi, for the splendid hospitality last Tuesday, and to let you know the results of the enquiries I have made on your behalf. Let me assure you that the UK government at the highest possible level regards the contract with CATIC as important and has taken steps to endure that matters proceed smoothly to completion," wrote Kock in the business letter, a copy of which sent to the Arctic Beacon.
"The export license with CATIC as the consignee, reference 1/730.5790/89 will be returned to Tagell UK. My Defense Equipment Finance Department has received the financial documents and the two separate Tagell UK contracts (with CATIC and IMS) from Mr. Dastjerdi. I am in close contact with Peter Levene, who is charge of procurement at the Ministry of Defense. His advice is that the contract for the initial purchase of the PGS should be with IMS and not the manufacturer, ISC-Ferranti. It appears they will not continue trading.
"I will be on London on Monday 26 June to meet officers from the Defense Export Sales Organization. This should provide an excellent opportunity to discuss some of the other matters you raised on Tuesday and I would be glad if you would join us for lunch. We could meet at my London office at 1pm."
Kock signed the letter as a consultant, citing Lord Levene's sanction of the PGS to China and then to Iran. In a statement by Sir William Jaffray in 2004, he alleged firsthand knowledge that in 1991, Lord Levene authorized the supply of 1500 units of the Precision Guidance System (PGS) to CATIC of the People's Republic of China through a a UK company, ISC-Ferranti, which collapsed in 1989.
The PGS was an inertial guidance system, which can be fitted to a missile to guide it accurately to its target. These units were ex-Ferranti stock and Hashemi, the representative of the Iranian Defense Industries (IDI), arranged with the MOD in London the onward supply to the P.R. China, and thence to Iran. The entire transaction has been fully documented, according to Jaffray, including the identities of the officials of IDI, and the sums of money paid via Iranian banks.
Further in a April 28, 1987 letter from Kock of Midland Bank PLC to the Secretary of State for Defense, George Younger, showing his key role in negotiating a top secret defense deal with Malaysia, arms which would eventually end up in Iran and Iraq.
Kock writes:
"I have for some months now been in close discussions with the Malaysian Ministry of Defense regarding a major project as yet classified as secret.
"The time has now come where we feel it very necessary to give you details of this major project which in our view hold significant importance, not only for British defense equipment manufacturer's, but strategically and politically to.
"In view of the official visit by the Malaysian Premier and is defense chiefs in June we would ask for a meeting as soon as convenient?
"We are in fact meeting the Chief of staff in London unofficially on the 12th of May as part of an ongoing dialogue. I have personally briefed the Director S.A.S. and he is as yet the only other person informed on the project."
Besides the correspondence explaining Kock's role in the Middle East arms deals, copies of an MI6 internal memo, tracking Kock's every move after his duties were completed, show just how concerned British intelligence was in the early 1990's to keep Kock silent and from talking to the press.
This secret intelligence service memo, obtained by the Arctic Beacon depicts, Kock as a longtime reliable agent, but at the time of the writing MI6 officials were concerned that he turned into somewhat of a loose canon.
"Kock has been an enthusiastic and effective agent. But in the last few years or so pressure of work seems to have affected him and he has developed a growing obsession about his personal security. He now seems to clamor for simultaneous contact with SIS and MI5 and his Special Branch and has become somewhat of an intelligence nuisance.
"His main role was a provider of (blacked out) but he also reported on the Defense industry. In addition he was used by the Joint section for Chinese targeting?
"Between September 1987 and January 1990 we met Kock periodically in London. For the most part, this contact was instigated by Kock and entailed him reporting on various arms-related matters?In October 1989 he volunteered information on the involvement of the Belgium company PRB, recently bought by Astra, in the supply of propellants for the Iraqi supergun project.
"This involvement antedated Astra's purchase of the company but we believe it relevant to the DTI inquiry into Astra which is referred to in the press. Elements of Kock's reporting were included in material about the "supergun circulated to government departments at the time by SIS.
"According to his account, Kock's role in relation to the Astra Holdings/PRB business was creditable?
"In January 1990 Kock was involved in a shooting incident outside his home in Scotland. Since that time we have not initiated contact with him, but we have from time to time seen him, at his insistence, because we seek to keep his goodwill and to preempt any other more damaging approaches, for example, to the press. While, for obvious reasons, we regard his judgment as unsound, we believe we need to keep his goodwill?"
It is obvious from the MI6 internal report that UK policy was to keep a lid on the illegal Iraqi and Iranian arms deals, as well as to conceal millions of hidden commissions on contracts which eventually funneled back into the pockets of high-level politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.
UK policy, as evidenced in a 1995 internal memorandum written by Hugh Savell close to the arms investigation, also outlined a concerted legal strategy to keep the contents of the Astra papers concealed from Parliament and the press, a strategy that to date has proved successful.
Below is a detailed list of some of the commissions from Astra Holdings PLC, referring to Tagell UK Ltd. And the offshore companies which UK and U.S. politicians have interests and connections. It should be noted that the payee-companies would then secretly funnel some of the money to greedy politicians whose tracks were completely covered by the complexity and location of the overseas companies accepting payment.
The following is a partial list, showing the enormous profits made by the illegal sale of weapons to Iran and Iraq, weapons eventually used against U.S. and UK soldiers. Also it should be noted that serious investigations need to take place, tracing the payee-companies listed in the documents below to the actual unscrupulous politicians and businessmen who illegally profited.
Click link to see list of illegal commissions:
View Commissions Here
Editor's Note: Read the final part of the series tomorrow as the strange deaths of Dr. David Kelly and arms-businessman, Gerald Bull, are analyzed. The stunning conclusion reveals we are no closer today than we were in the 1980's of getting at the real culprits - The UK and U.S. governments - both guilty as sin for selling illegal weapons to Iran and Iraq.
The Illegal Government Arms Trade. When You Try To Take Away 'The Toys of the Big Boys,' They Play For Keeps
By Greg Szymanski – Artic Beacon February 2, 2006
Although 13 years apart, two key figures about to blow the lid off the illegal arms sales to Iran and Iraq both turned up dead, one a reported suicide and the other shot three times to the back of the head outside his Brussels apartment.
Both deaths have drawn media attention, but none of the reports have ever led to a serious investigation.
The closest any brave prosecutor ever got to getting at the truth was a 2003 report that a Belgium prosecutor was considering reopening a probe into the March 22, 1990, murder of Canadian born Dr. Gerald Bull, founder of Space Research Corporation (SRC).
But after reports surfaced that there had been Mossad/CIA/MI6 involvement in Bull's murder, the Belgium prosecutor's never went any farther amid speculations that he was about to be killed himself if he pursued the investigation.
Before the investigation was quashed, the following is English translation of what appeared in a Belgium magazine about the initial report.
"On Friday, the Belgian daily Derniere Heure published a report saying Belgian police and the State Prosecutor have information from a "reliable source" that identified a Mossad agent, a member of an "elite unit," as one of Bull's assassins. The report said the source of the information is in a Central American country "previously controlled by Britain" the country is most likely Belize. The information source said a piece of jewelry or a bracelet was taken from Bull and kept by the suspect.
"Members of Bull's family and investigative reporters suggested that Bull was in contact with members of Israel's intelligence services, and provided them with inside information about the Iraqi super-gun project.
"One theory held that the Mossad killed him for failing to provide accurate information about the Iraqi program to extend the range of Scud missiles and improve their accuracy."
Other theories floated around that Bull was killed on the direction of UK and U.S. officials concerned he was ready to "spill the beans" about the illegal arms trade, pinning high-level politicians with receiving millions in illegal kickbacks on the arms contracts.
Whatever the case, it was obvious Bull knew too much and had to be eliminated, his murder sending a clear message to others like him either shut up or expect the same fate.
Although Bull was a "hot government item," how deep did he really go into the murky waters of the worldwide arms trade?
From the outset, Bull's involvement of the Iraqi arms dealing was directly responsible in the late 1970s for the development of advanced guns as well as full-bore and base-bleed ammunition technologies within South Africa.
Years after, in the mid 1980's, he brought more advanced expertise to Iraq. A key product of Bull's endeavors, the G-5 155mm self-propelled howitzer has surfaced in original form or similar weapons within Chile, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Iraq.
A 1987 report about Bull in a Canadian Defense Weekly publication had this to say about the gunned-down arms whistle blower:
"In 1980 on June 16, Bull was convicted on criminal charges in a Rutland, Vermont court for smuggling gun barrels and ammunition to South Africa. He later pleaded guilty in Montreal, on August 14 of the same year, to violating U.N. arms sanctions also against South Africa. The Quebec court fined SRC $55,000.
"The Canadian convictions involved "shipments of howitzer parts" both directly and indirectly to South Africa. On the U.S. charges, Bull eventually served a short prison sentence in the United States and paid several thousands of dollars in fines."
And after he was murdered in his Brussels apartment, a series of revelations tied him and his company, SRC, to voluminous arms dealings with Iraq, including development of the fabled Iraqi 600 kilometer-range, forty-meter-barrel "Supergun".
Evidence of the monstrous gun surfaced, but British officials quickly tried to distance themselves from involvement with Bull, who was depicted as a renegade when in fact he was acting on behalf both the UK and U.S. governments.
The Canadian Defense magazine provided further details of the weaponry sold to Iraq, but what the publication failed to mention was that all the sales were done with UK and U.S. government complicity in blatant violation of UN embargoes.
Here is the Canadian report:
It was later found that SRC's technology development ties with the Iraqis included the Scud B, extensive 155mm gun and ammunition development, as well as 210mm self-propelled howitzers manufactured in facilities north of Baghdad, and the overall 155mm GC-45 artillery system.
"Other developments that Bull is believed to have been helping Iraq with included the amazing 1000/405mm (1000mm smooth bore saboted down to 405mm) Ultra Long Range (ULR) gun with a 2.32 meter long shell having a mass of around 1,800 kilograms. (See The Wednesday Report, April 18 and August 15.)
"Iraq first acquired the G-5 155mm artillery piece in the early 1980s from South Africa. Later in 1986-87, a time when Bull's influence increased in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein, who was at the time angry with South Africa, switched to Austria as a principal supplier. The first of Iraq's G-5s were built by South African firm Lyttelton Engineering Works of Verwoerdberg and sold through Pretoria's roguish export firm, Armscor.
"The original gun barrels were built by Krykor while Summerset Chemicals (both of South Africa) built the explosive charges for the gun. With technology transfers from South Africa and later Austria, coupled with Gerry Bull's direct assistance, the Iraqis now have the complete manufacturing capacity for powder, shells and barrels. It is estimated that Iraq can manufacture 1,000 replacement barrels per year.
"Today (1987) more than two hundred G-5 155mm howitzers exist within the arsenals of Iraq. The gun is capable of firing a shell some 40 kilometers, greater than any modern artillery of its type. The G-5 and its ammunition employ one of Bull's favorite techniques. The accuracy of the gun is greatly enhanced by firing base-bleed ammunition. Extra powder is burned at the base of the projectile as it exits the barrel, thus stabilizing the shell. The technology of the gun is brilliant."
So Bull was erased from the picture and depicted as an outlaw arms dealer at a time when investigations were heating up regarding the illegal deals brokered with Iran and Iraq by the UK and U.S. governments.
But what about microbiologist and weapon's inspector, Dr David Kelley, who was said to have committed suicide in 2003? In regards to Dr. Kelley, two serious questions need to be asked and whether the answers have any serious bearing on his untimely death?
What did Dr. Kelley about the supply by the UK of biological and chemical materials and defense equipment to Iraq before the start of the first Gulf War?
And what did he know in relation to whether Iraq possessed WMD's in 2003 at the time the present government asserted that such a threat justified their invasion of Iraq?
It must be remembered that Dr. Kelly was the senior microbiologist at Porton Down at the time the sale of biological cultures to Iraq was authorized in 1985-6. Over the period 1985-7, Porton Down supplied Iraq with bacterial cultures, including C. botulinum and B. anthracis and a formal admission of the role of Porton Down was also published in 1992.
These bacterial cultures were then used to mass produce biological weapons which were deployed by Iraq on Iran whose civilian population suffered massive casualties from the deployment of chemical weapons.
At the end of the first Gulf War in 1991, Dr Kelly joined the UN Weapons Inspector's team and over a period of seven years, he made a total of 37 trips to Iraq until the inspections ceased.
He was instrumental on every aspect of reporting and reported on the weapons arsenal and manufacture of biological weapons, including those financed by the United Kingdom and manufactured using UK expertise, cultures and equipment.
Being ideally placed to know of the existence of the weapons, and who supplied them, it might be thought these matters might have had some bearing on Dr Kelly's death. But, strangely, they were never investigated or even considered in any formal hearings held, most notably the Hutton enquiry.
In a notable report written in 2004 by Sir William Jaffray and another in 2003 by John Drewe, both men commented how important aspects known by Dr. Kelley may have led to his death, especially aspects concerning radioactive material sent to Iraq with UK and U.S. approval.
Drewe wrote:
"In addition to biological weapons, chemical precursors to anticholinesterase inhibitors and ammunition, it has been established that at least one contract entailed supplying Iraq with radioactive material. The listed material is not plutonium or a fissile isotope of uranium, but consists of radiocaesium (Cs-137) in significant quantities. The documentation indicates that the shipment was stored at the Astra Defence Systems depot at Faldingworth and then air freighted to Iraq (Ref: 9).
"The contracts for the supply of radiocaesium from the UK to Iraq by companies such as Allivane International Limited are on record. Such contracts demonstrate the huge quantities of prohibited material, including nerve-gas precursors, bacteria and culture media sold by the UK to Iraq over the period 1982-88 (Ref: 10).
"A deposition from a former employee of Allivane has appended to it contracts and shipping records indicating that hundreds of curies of substances such as radiocaesium (Cs-137) and radioiodine (I-131) were shipped from the UK to Iraq (Ref: 11).
"A former employee of the Ministry of Defense who dealt with Allivane International (1983-86) has given a statement confirming that during this time the Ministry of Defense specifically authorized companies such as Allivane International to supply munitions to Iran and Iraq. Huge quantities of conventional ammunition, such as 155mm artillery shells, were delivered to Allivane from the depots of Royal Ordnance (Ref: 12).
"It must have been apparent to the government that this ammunition would be deployed by Iraq against Iran. It must also have been clear that...