Author Topic: Wandering Off Topic  (Read 1465050 times)

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Offline pathfinder73

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #315 on: April 20, 2016, 08:03:43 PM »
In her notes dated July 18, almost two months after Maddie's disappearance and at a time when there are starting to appear indicia against the McCanns, Kate sounds disheartened and reinforces the accusations against Murat: "I had lots of hope that there would be progress in Murat's situation. I'm sure that he is involved and I feel like killing him, but I can't".

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id166.html
Smithman carrying a child in his arms checked his watch after passing the Smith family and the time was 10:03. Both are still unidentified 10 years later.

Offline pathfinder73

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #316 on: April 20, 2016, 10:04:43 PM »
The Strange Case of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the McCanns

Excerpt

Which leads me on to the question of why they received such exceptional treatment from British authorities, directed straight from No. 10, to the extent that Blair and Brown eventually gave them a PR representative? I used at one stage to be Resident Clerk in the FCO, a now abolished post effectively of night duty officer. I can tell you from horrible personal experience that the FCO deals with gut-wrenching cases of lost or dead children abroad frequently. I spent one of the most terrible three hours of my life, through to a cold dawn, on the phone with a hysterical bereaved mother desperate to explore any avenue that might give a possibility that the boy who had just drowned in Brazil was misidentified as her son. On average, I am afraid such tragedies get substantially less than 1% of the public resources that were devoted to the McCanns.

I am going to come straight out with this. British diplomatic staff were under direct instruction to support the McCanns far beyond the usual and to put pressure on the Portuguese authorities over the case. I have direct information that more than one of those diplomatic staff found the McCanns less than convincing and their stories inconsistent. Embassy staff were perturbed to be ordered that British authorities were to be present at every contact between the McCanns and Portuguese police.

This again is absolutely not the norm. On a daily basis more British citizens have contact with foreign authorities than the total staff of the FCO. It would be simply impossible to give that level of support to everybody. Plus, against jingoistic presumption, a great many Brits who have contact with foreign police are actually criminals.

The British Ambassador in Portugal, John Buck, had been my direct boss in the FCO. he was Deputy Head of Southern European Department when I was Head of Cyprus Section. He and his staff were concerned by contradictions in the McCann’s story. The Embassy warned, in writing, that being perceived as too close to the McCanns might not prove wise. They demanded the instruction from London be reconfirmed. It was.

I know of people’s misgivings because I was told directly. But material was also leaked to a Belgian newspaper confirming what I have said. It was published by the Express, but like so much other material which is not supportive of the McCanns, it got taken down. Fortunately that last link preserved it. It also shows that the FCO continues to refuse Freedom of Information requests for the material on the interesting grounds that it might damage relations with Portugal.

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/
Smithman carrying a child in his arms checked his watch after passing the Smith family and the time was 10:03. Both are still unidentified 10 years later.

Offline pathfinder73

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #317 on: April 20, 2016, 10:17:39 PM »
"You may be interested to know that Martin Grime, the (then) South Yorkshire Police dog handler whose dogs alerted to cadaver scent and blood in the apartment, car and on McCann clothing also had pressure put on him to over emphasize the need for forensic corroboration in both his statements and rogatory. Never in his career, on any case, had he been asked to do so."
Smithman carrying a child in his arms checked his watch after passing the Smith family and the time was 10:03. Both are still unidentified 10 years later.

Offline pegasus

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #318 on: April 20, 2016, 10:20:56 PM »
The Strange Case of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the McCanns

Excerpt

Which leads me on to the question of why they received such exceptional treatment from British authorities, directed straight from No. 10, to the extent that Blair and Brown eventually gave them a PR representative? I used at one stage to be Resident Clerk in the FCO, a now abolished post effectively of night duty officer. I can tell you from horrible personal experience that the FCO deals with gut-wrenching cases of lost or dead children abroad frequently. I spent one of the most terrible three hours of my life, through to a cold dawn, on the phone with a hysterical bereaved mother desperate to explore any avenue that might give a possibility that the boy who had just drowned in Brazil was misidentified as her son. On average, I am afraid such tragedies get substantially less than 1% of the public resources that were devoted to the McCanns.

I am going to come straight out with this. British diplomatic staff were under direct instruction to support the McCanns far beyond the usual and to put pressure on the Portuguese authorities over the case. I have direct information that more than one of those diplomatic staff found the McCanns less than convincing and their stories inconsistent. Embassy staff were perturbed to be ordered that British authorities were to be present at every contact between the McCanns and Portuguese police.

This again is absolutely not the norm. On a daily basis more British citizens have contact with foreign authorities than the total staff of the FCO. It would be simply impossible to give that level of support to everybody. Plus, against jingoistic presumption, a great many Brits who have contact with foreign police are actually criminals.

The British Ambassador in Portugal, John Buck, had been my direct boss in the FCO. he was Deputy Head of Southern European Department when I was Head of Cyprus Section. He and his staff were concerned by contradictions in the McCann’s story. The Embassy warned, in writing, that being perceived as too close to the McCanns might not prove wise. They demanded the instruction from London be reconfirmed. It was.

I know of people’s misgivings because I was told directly. But material was also leaked to a Belgian newspaper confirming what I have said. It was published by the Express, but like so much other material which is not supportive of the McCanns, it got taken down. Fortunately that last link preserved it. It also shows that the FCO continues to refuse Freedom of Information requests for the material on the interesting grounds that it might damage relations with Portugal.

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/
Thankyou Pathfinder for posting this extremely interesting article
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/
It is complete confirmation that the leak to belgian media, that at least one FCO person warned the government about the bizarrely high level of support and political pressure being provided, was absolutely true.

Offline pegasus

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #319 on: April 20, 2016, 10:32:21 PM »
"You may be interested to know that Martin Grime, the (then) South Yorkshire Police dog handler whose dogs alerted to cadaver scent and blood in the apartment, car and on McCann clothing also had pressure put on him to over emphasize the need for forensic corroboration in both his statements and rogatory. Never in his career, on any case, had he been asked to do so."
The source for this is a comment under
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/
I believe that this is not simply hypothesising, but a statement of direct knowledge. It helps to confirm the statement by Sr Amaral that that the UK government's secret service did indeed "have a quiet chat with"  one of the UK operatives as he returned to the UK.

Offline pegasus

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #320 on: April 20, 2016, 10:45:00 PM »
The author of this article had originally intended to publish this information in 2014, but didn't.

One of the reasons (IMO the main reason) why he now does publish it, on 20 April 2016, is because of the  court decision in Lisbon which cancels the banning of Mr Amaral's book.

Is it possible that a lot more information will now be published, by people with direct knowledge of the case, who were scared to publish before because of the aggressive legal machine of these tourists?

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/


Offline Eleanor

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #321 on: April 20, 2016, 10:49:43 PM »
The author of this article had originally intended to publish this information in 2014, but didn't.

One of the reasons (IMO the main reason) why he now does publish it, on 20 April 2016, is because of the  court decision in Lisbon which cancels the banning of Mr Amaral's book.

Is it possible that a lot more information will now be published, by people with direct knowledge of the case, who were scared to publish before because of the aggressive legal machine of these tourists?

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/

Well, that can't be bad.

Offline misty

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #322 on: April 20, 2016, 11:08:47 PM »
The author of this article had originally intended to publish this information in 2014, but didn't.

One of the reasons (IMO the main reason) why he now does publish it, on 20 April 2016, is because of the  court decision in Lisbon which cancels the banning of Mr Amaral's book.

Is it possible that a lot more information will now be published, by people with direct knowledge of the case, who were scared to publish before because of the aggressive legal machine of these tourists?

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/

What "direct" source did Murray have or is it just hearsay?
Leaked to a Belgium newspaper = Duarte Levy. Enough said.

Offline mercury

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #323 on: April 20, 2016, 11:09:21 PM »
Oh my oh my...another layer unravelled

Offline Brietta

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #324 on: April 20, 2016, 11:13:44 PM »
The source for this is a comment under
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/the-strange-case-of-gordon-brown-and-the-mccanns/
I believe that this is not simply hypothesising, but a statement of direct knowledge. It helps to confirm the statement by Sr Amaral that that the UK government's secret service did indeed "have a quiet chat with"  one of the UK operatives as he returned to the UK.

What knowledge do you have of Denise Thomson which leads you to believe she is making a statement of "direct knowledge"?
"All I'm going to say is that we've conducted a very serious investigation and there's no indication that Madeleine McCann's parents are connected to her disappearance. On the other hand, we have a lot of evidence pointing out that Christian killed her," Wolter told the "Friday at 9"....

Offline pegasus

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #325 on: April 20, 2016, 11:19:20 PM »
Well, that can't be bad.
Agreed, I imagine that many in the FCO thought it was extremely odd, that the UK government not only instructed the PJ that a UK gov person was to be present at all the update meetings, but also had the cheek to pressurise the PJ to hold those update meetings with the tourists, not at the PJ Police Station, but in the UK consulate, or even in a residential house south of Portimao. Most odd.

Offline misty

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #326 on: April 20, 2016, 11:26:36 PM »
Agreed, I imagine that many in the FCO thought it was extremely odd, that the UK government not only instructed the PJ that a UK gov person was to be present at all the update meetings, but also had the cheek to pressurise the PJ to hold those update meetings with the tourists, not at the PJ Police Station, but in the UK consulate, or even in a residential house south of Portimao. Most odd.

There are some very dangerous stairs in Portuguese police stations. Best to be accompanied by someone familiar with the health & safety laws.

Offline pegasus

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #327 on: April 20, 2016, 11:28:24 PM »
What "direct" source did Murray have or is it just hearsay?
Leaked to a Belgium newspaper = Duarte Levy. Enough said.
Note which organisation he was a high-up employee of.

Offline misty

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #328 on: April 20, 2016, 11:29:53 PM »
Note which organisation he was a high-up employee of.

Got the sack, didn't he?

ETA Suggest you check where he was working in 2007, Pegasus.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2016, 11:33:34 PM by misty »

Offline pegasus

Re: Wandering Off Topic
« Reply #329 on: April 20, 2016, 11:35:20 PM »
There are some very dangerous stairs in Portuguese police stations. Best to be accompanied by someone familiar with the health & safety laws.
No Misty, that was not the reason why the UK government pressurised the PJ to hold the regular update meetings with these tourists in (most unusually) UK consulate buildings.

This unique treatment became so established that the two tourists were shocked when eventually they were told that an update meeting with the PJ would be held at a PJ building. (source: book by KM)