Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
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MP calls for independent inquiry into BA flight 149
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker today calls for an independent public inquiry to be held into the events in 1990 which led to BA flight 149 landing in Kuwait and its passengers and crew subsequently being used by Saddam Hussein as human shields. He has this morning written to Prime Minister Tony Blair asking the Prime Minister:
- To meet a delegation of passengers and crew from BA149
- To make public the internal review of the events which followed BA 149 touching down in Kuwait
- To instigate an open public inquiry into the whole episode
The MP for Lewes says that new evidence which has been uncovered shows that the official version of events given to the House of Commons by two successive Prime Ministers, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, was incorrect and misleading and that a decision was taken to land the plane although it was known that Iraqi troops were close by, and that the capture of those on board was highly likely. He says that the plane was landed to allow intelligence and special forces personnel belonging to a highly secretive section of MI6 called The Inc., posing as passengers, to disembark in Kuwait.
The MP also says that answers given in Parliament and in letters subsequently were incorrect and misleading. Mrs Thatcher told the Commons in 1990 that the plane had landed and been refuelled before the invasion began, but it is now clear that this is untrue. And John Major told an MP in a letter in October 1992 that the government had had "no firm evidence" that Iraq would invade Kuwait, although it is now clear that the secret mission was organised days ahead of the BA flight in question and that the intelligence services in both the UK and the USA were predicting an invasion. He also said that "there were no British military personnel on board the flight", which is only true in the most literal sense – those who belong to The Inc have been employed by MI6, but have changed their official employment status precisely to provide the government of the day with an opportunity for deniability. John Major twice refused calls for an inquiry and would not allow the matter to be examined by select committee either.
Norman Baker says:
"It is now clear that the passengers and crew of BA flight 149 were deliberately flown into a hostile environment and had their lives put at risk, solely to provide cover for the secret operatives of The Inc on board posing as passengers. The very least those on board are now entitled to are the full facts, and that can only be achieved by the release of government papers to an independent public inquiry. That is what I am now writing to Tony Blair to demand he establish.
"It is also clear that the House has been seriously misled by successive Prime Ministers. We now need a clear statement in the House from either the Prime Minister or the Foreign Secretary."