Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Spy vs. Spy Spook Hypocrisy: Dame Stella vs. David Shayler The law only applies to people we don't like. OFFICIAL restrictions on former members of the intelligence services telling their stories threatened to unravel yesterday as Britain's first female spymaster sought to publish her autobiography. The move coincided with the announcement by David Shayler, a renegade MI5 officer who claims to Click to enlarge have evidence of a British plot to kill the Libyan leader Col Gaddafi, that he is to return to England to face trial. Stella Rimington, whose appointment was a publicity coup for MI5, leading it "out of the cold", has placed it in the embarrassing position of having to ban her book or face charges of hypocrisy over its attitude towards Mr Shayler. Mr Blair was at pains during Prime Minister's Question Time to point out that she submitted her manuscript to Sir Richard Wilson, the Cabinet Secretary, for permission to publish. Mr Blair said: "The procedure for anybody who has occupied a position such as Dame Stella Rimington in order to publish memoirs is the procedure she is going through now. That is something that will take its course in the normal way." Security sources said Mr Shayler, by contrast, had gone to the press with stories of alleged incompetence and bungling within the security service. One said: "If he had acted like Dame Stella no one would have had a problem." But the attempt by Dame Stella to publish her autobiography could not have come at a more embarrassing time for either the Government or MI5. Having insisted throughout the Shayler affair that former intelligence officers cannot publish their memoirs, they would stand accused of hypocrisy if Dame Stella was allowed to go ahead with publication. The decision on whether the memoirs of Dame Stella, who was MI5's director-general, can be published rests ultimately with Jack Straw, the Home Secretary. He does not appear to have been in any hurry to make that decision. The Home Office was tight-lipped over precisely how long ago Dame Stella's manuscript was submitted, saying only that it was "earlier this year". Although officials sought yesterday to imply that it would take time to clear her manuscript, it is understood to have been self-censored, containing little, if anything, that might damage national security. Discussions - which have largely involved Mr Straw, Dame Stella's successor Stephen Lander, Sir Richard and Government law officers - are solely centred on whether or not it is sensible to allow her to go ahead with publication while more junior officers, such as Mr Shayler, are prevented from writing their memoirs. Those discussions are also understood to have included the Foreign Office which controls both MI6, the foreign intelligence service, and GCHQ, the signals intercept and codebreaking organisation. MI6 in particular is likely to oppose publication vehemently. It is still seeking to silence its own renegade officer, Richard Tomlinson, who was jailed for a year after attempting to publish his memoirs. Within MI5, opinion was apparently mixed, with some supporting the idea of Dame Stella telling her story while others believed that intelligence officers should never tell. Tam Dalyell, the Labour MP, asked Mr Blair if he thought that Dame Stella's book would include her alleged role in monitoring the activities of the NUM during the miners' strike of the mid-Eighties. The Prime Minister replied: "I really cannot comment since at that point in time we weren't in office." MI5 has always insisted that its monitoring of trade unionists during the strike was targeted against subversive Left-wing elements within the NUM rather than the organisation itself. If Dame Stella is allowed to publish, she will not be setting a precedent. Sir Percy Sillitoe, the immediate post-war head of the service, wrote an autobiography which revealed nothing that was not already known about MI5. By contrast, Mr Shayler's decision to return "by Christmas" to stand trial threatens to expose more secrets of both MI5 and its sister organisation, MI6. Mr Shayler told the BBC yesterday that neither Mr Straw nor Mr Cook wanted to see him return because he would be calling them both as witnesses "and I'll be cross-examining them in the witness box". He faces prosecution under the Official Secrets Act for disclosing information learned during his time in MI5. Mr Shayler is alleged to have handed over the names of two MI6 agents involved in the alleged plot to kill Col Gaddafi to the Observer. Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, described Mr Shayler's claims of an MI6 plot to kill Gaddafi as "pure fantasy". Mr Shayler denied this, saying: "It is clear that MI6 had a source involved in a coup plot against Gaddafi." Even if it is published, Dame Stella's autobiography is unlikely to make any startling revelations, but it is difficult to see how MI5 can stop Mr Shayler disclosing further secrets in court. Tom King, the former Defence Secretary and chairman of the intelligence and security committee, said Dame Stella had always been in favour of greater openness in the security service. He said: "With her book, she is playing it by the rules and I can see some merit if she is trying to take away suspicion surrounding the security service and increase public understanding." But he said he would be concerned if her book encouraged other officers to publish revelations without permission. The London Telegraph, May 18, 2000 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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