Thursday, August 17, 2006

was I right, or was I right !

10 days ago, I made a prediction here about the likely outcome of the arrests in Britain ...

"My crystal ball tells me that within a matter of days, many left-wing pollies (I think I see the names Galloway and Livingstone, but there are more I can't read) will start a campaign for the immediate release of all prisoners, for an apology from the Home Office, and for an official complaint to the Pakistani government about the torture of the British citizens innocently going about their business in Lahore. Furthermore, they will demand that any evidence gained from following up the interrogation in Pakistan be ignored as "tainted evidence" since the techniques of "interrogation" do not conform to the British standards required for a court case."

So go have a look here in today's Guardian (hats-off to OpinionJournal - still the bechmark) ...

"Reports from Pakistan suggest that much of the intelligence that led to the raids came from that country and that some of it may have been obtained in ways entirely unacceptable here. In particular Rashid Rauf, a British citizen said to be a prime source of information leading to last week's arrests, has been held without access to full consular or legal assistance. Disturbing reports in Pakistani papers that he had "broken" under interrogation have been echoed by local human rights bodies. The Guardian has quoted one, Asma Jehangir, of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, who has no doubt about the meaning of broken. "I don't deduce, I know - torture," she said. "There is simply no doubt about that, no doubt at all." If this is shown to be the case, the prospect of securing convictions in this country on his evidence will be complicated."