Neocon Rory Stewart Was An MI6 Operative

Rory Stewart currently vying for selection as a Tory candidate, as Craig Murray reveals–

One person I would not vote for is the crusading neo-Conservative Rory Stewart. It is particularly annoying that he is constantly referred to as a former diplomat. Stewart was an MI6 officer and not a member of the FCO.

Three years ago I received a message from the FCO asking me not to mention this as, at that time, Stewart was still very active for MI6 in Afghanistan and his life could have been endangered. I agreed, and even removed a reference from my blog. However now that he is safely and lucratively ensconsed at Harvard, I see no reason to conceal the truth. I is necessary to reveal this so that people can correctly evaluate his political pronouncements on Iraq and Afghanistan, and his motives in making them.

Word.

Intrigue

Hossein Derakhshan is a major figure in Iranian blogging and is no stranger to controversy but I find this report in Haaretz to be absolutely bizarre-

Hossein Derakhshan, the Iranian blogger who visited Israel in 2007, was recently arrested in Teheran upon his return from Canada. The Iranian blogger, who also holds Canadian citizenship, admitted to being involved in espionage for Israel, the Iranian news Website Jahan News reported Monday.

Jahan News is affiliated with the Iranian intelligence community.

The report, citing “credible sources”, revealed that Derakhshan’s confession included several “intricate” points. The site noted that Derakhshan attended various conventions in Israel, and quoted Haaretz and Jerusalem Post articles stating that Derakhshan is a friend of Israel.

Following his visit to Israel last year, there was a change of tone in Derakhshan’s blog posts, which had previously been supportive of Israel. Derakhshan even commended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad occasionally, and recently expressed his support in the arrest of several Iranian citizens on political grounds.

Iranian expert Meir Javedanfar wrote Tuesday that prior to his return to Iran, Derakhshan criticized former Iranian president Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani and added that his arrest may be the result of power struggles within the Iranian regime.

It just doesn’t smell right to me from any angle. Seems reminiscent of the cold war when such heightened tensions produced all kinds of paranoia, shenanigans and false information, the article is odd and the confession is odd. Fishy.

Murdered, D’you Think?

Still, one less billionaire…

Dr Marwan, 62, a businessman and son-in-law of former Egyptian president Nasser and a former political and security adviser to President Sadat, died on 27 June, 2007 after falling from his large flat in Carlton House Terrace. He has been described by historians as the ‘most infamous spy in the Middle East’, who had worked closely with security agencies including MI6, the CIA and the KGB.

His family claim that the only known copy of his nearly finished memoirs – which he had been researching for several years – disappeared from his £4.4m property on the day he died.

One witness has told police that, in the moments after Marwan’s death, two men of ‘Mediterranean appearance’, both wearing suits, were seen peering over a balcony at his body as it lay sprawled in a private garden.

The witness, who asked not to be identified, told The Observer last week: ‘I saw two men standing on a balcony. They were doing nothing, just looking down. Their calmness struck me as unusual. A lady was screaming in the garden. People were rushing around trying to help or call. But these two men were just standing there.’

Israeli commentators claim he was murdered by Egyptian intelligence officers for being the Jewish state’s most important agent in the run-up to the Yom Kippur war in 1973. Egyptian commentators claim he was murdered by Mossad as he prepared to expose Israel’s secrets in an explosive book.