DAYS AFTER KHASHOGGI KILLING, BRITISH MILITARY SOLD CRUCIAL SPARE PARTS TO SAUDI AIR FORCE BOMBING YEMEN

Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 to obtain documents he needed for his wedding. When he did not emerge from the building later that day, his fiancée Hatice Cengiz raised the alarm, fearing he had been kidnapped. In fact, he was already dead.

Three days later, on 5 October, Britain’s military signed a deal with BAE to sell a record 116 surplus Tornado parts to the Saudi air force. Hours after this deal was signed, Turkish officials said they believed Khashoggi had been killed.

The UK Foreign Office issued statements expressing concern about the journalist’s disappearance, but the military signed another arms deal with Saudi Arabia, for 88 Tornado parts, on 19 October – despite reports emerging that Khashoggi had been hacked to death with a bone saw.




Journalist Jamal Khashoggi criticised the Saudi regime for its ‘cruel war’ in Yemen and weeks later it murdered him, sparking an international outcry. But while his fiancée frantically searched for his body, Britain’s military quietly sold spare parts to Saudi Arabia’s air force, so it could keep bombing Yemen. And that arms deal is just one in a series of controversial weapons exports uncovered by Declassified UK.

Saudi Arabia’s air force, together with its allies like the United Arab Emirates, has fueled the suffering by launching tens of thousands of air raids, killing nearly 9,000 civilians and hitting farms over 700 times. 

arms corporation BAE profits, selling at least £15-billion worth of equipment and support to the Saudi military during the conflict so far.

Around 40% of Saudi combat planes have been made by BAE at sites such as Warton, including up to 81 Tornado and 72 Typhoon jets. The rest come from America

https://www.declassifieduk.org/days-after-khashoggi-killing-british-military-sold-crucial-spare-parts-to-saudi-air-force-bombing-yemen/

For Benghazi diplomatic security, U.S. relied on small British Firm BLUE MOUNTAIN

The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a protest by an armed group said to have been protesting a film being produced in the United States September 11, 2012. REUTERS/Esam... Acquire Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

By Tabassum Zakaria, Susan Cornwell and Hadeel Al Shalchi

WASHINGTON/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - The State Department's decision to hire Blue Mountain Group to guard the ill-fated U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, entrusted security tasks to a little-known British company instead of the large firms it usually uses in overseas danger zones.

The contract was largely based on expediency, U.S. officials have said, since no one knew how long the temporary mission would remain in the Libyan city. The cradle of last year's uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule, Benghazi has been plagued by rising violence in recent months.

Security practices at the diplomatic compound, where Blue Mountain guards patrolled with flashlights and batons instead of guns, have come under U.S. government scrutiny in the wake of the September 11 attack in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Federal contract data shows that the Benghazi security contract, worth up to $783,284, was listed as a "miscellaneous" award, not as part of the large master State Department contract that covers protection for overseas embassies.

"Blue Mountain was virtually unknown to the circles that studied private security contractors working for the United States, before the events in Benghazi," said Charles Tiefer, a commissioner at the Commission on Wartime Contracting, which studied U.S. contracting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Several British government sources said that they were unfamiliar with Blue Mountain, which is based in Wales. They said British authorities used a different contractor for security protection in Libya.

Blue Mountain was able to work in Libya because it forged a business alliance with a local security firm, as required by Libyan regulations.

Previously known as Pilgrim Elite, Blue Mountain says on its website that it offers security services and professional training and has operated in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.

The website once listed General Motors as a client, and a GM spokeswoman in Detroit told Reuters that Blue Mountain's work for the company was "on a very limited basis and mostly in the UK."

A United Press International report indicated that Blue Mountain and its local partner, Eclipse, also were competing for contracts guarding oil fields.

Blue Mountain Chief Executive Officer Nigel Thomas, a former British special forces member, did not respond to emails or phone calls.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-usa-bluemountain/for-benghazi-diplomatic-security-u-s-relied-on-small-british-firm-idUSBRE89G1TI20121018/

BENGHAZI - BLUE MOUNTAIN

The Oct. 27 report focused on ex-security officer Dylan Davies and was intended to be the first Western eyewitness account of the attack on the U.S. compound that left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead. Davies – who had written a book detailing his purported experience under the pseudonym Morgan Jones - told 60 Minutes that he defied orders from his employer, security firm Blue Mountain, to stay at his villa as the attack unfolded. Instead, Davies told “60 Minutes” that he raced to the compound and engaged the attackers.

In addition, the CBS News review said Logan's assertions that al Qaeda carried out the attack and controlled the hospital were not adequately attributed in her report.  The report also took issue with a speech Logan gave in October of 2012, one month before starting work on the Benghazi story.

"Logan made a speech in which she took a strong public position arguing that the US Government was misrepresenting the threat from Al Qaeda, and urging actions that the US should take in response to the Benghazi attack," the report says. "From a CBS News Standards perspective, there is a conflict in taking a public position on the government’s handling of Benghazi and Al Qaeda, while continuing to report on the story."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-asks-lara-logan-to-take-leave-after-flawed-benghazi-report/

On September 11, 2012, at 9:40 p.m. local time, members of Ansar al-Sharia attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi resulting in the deaths of both United States Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith.

At around 4:00 a.m. on September 12, the group launched a mortar attack against a CIA annex approximately one mile (1.6 km) away, killing two CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Dohertyand wounding ten others. Initial analysis by the CIA, repeated by top government officials, indicated that the attack spontaneously arose from a protest. Subsequent investigations showed that the attack was premeditated—although rioters and looters not originally part of the group may have joined in after the attacks began.

There is no definitive evidence that al-Qaeda or any other international terrorist organization participated in the Benghazi attack.[10][11][12] The United States immediately increased security worldwide at diplomatic and military facilities and began investigating the Benghazi attack.[13][14] The Libyan Government condemned the attacks and took steps to disband the militias. 30,000 Libyans marched through Benghazi condemning Ansar al-Sharia, which had been formed during the 2011 Libyan civil war to topple Muammar Gaddafi.

Despite persistent accusations against President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Susan Rice, ten investigations—six by Republican-controlled Congressional Committees—did not find that they or any other high-ranking Obama administration officials had acted improperly. Four career State Department officials were criticized for denying requests for additional security at the facility prior to the attack. Eric J. Boswell, the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, resigned under pressure, while three others were suspended. In her role as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton subsequently took responsibility for the security lapses.

Independent U.N. sanctions monitors accused Prince of proposing a private military operation - known as 'Project Opus' - to Libya's eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar in April 2019 and helping procure three aircraft for it.

The report described Prince's proposal as "a well-funded private military company operation" designed to provide Haftar with armed assault helicopters, intelligence surveillance aircraft, maritime interdiction, drones, and cyber, intelligence and targeting capabilities.

"The Project Opus plan also included a component to kidnap or terminate individuals regarded as high value targets in Libya," the monitors wrote.

Libya initially descended into chaos after the NATO-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 when the U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo. The country has been divided since 2014 between the internationally recognized government in its west and Haftar's eastern-based forces.

On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973), in response to events during the First Libyan Civil War. With ten votes in favour and five abstentions, the intent of the UN Security Council was to have "an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians, which it said might constitute 'crimes against humanity' ... [imposing] a ban on all flights in the country's airspace — a no-fly zone — and tightened sanctions on the Muammar Gaddafi regime and its supporters."[23]


https://www.reuters.com/world/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-accused-helping-evade-un-libya-sanctions-2021-02-21/