LONDON – Can two men be jailed for revealing a state secret that officially does not exist?
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service seems to say so.
On Tuesday, it is launching a trial against a civil servant and a former parliamentary aide for allegedly passing on notes of a conversation between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush that reportedly indicate Bush discussed bombing Al Jazeera television in Qatar.
The White House and Downing Street have denied the account and the notes themselves have never been published.
But the case against the alleged sources is shaping up as a major test of the government’s ability to keep confidences and enforce the country’s Official Secrets Act at a time when a controversial war has led to a stream of unwelcome insider disclosures.
The charges against civil servant David Keough, 49, and former parliamentary aide Leo O’ Connor, 42, are being interpreted widely as the government’s attempt to warn anyone with access to what the state deems sensitive information: If you leak, you may be prosecuted.
“Bush Plot to Bomb His Arab Ally,” shouted the banner headlines in London’s Mirror tabloid Nov. 22, over a photograph of a wild-looking U.S. president. The paper, without any direct quotations, said Bush had proposed attacking the Arabic TV channel during a conversation with Blair on April 16. Blair reportedly dissuaded him, with an assist from then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The White House initially dismissed the Mirror’s report as “outlandish,” while Downing Street said it would not comment on leaks.
But the story did not go away. It has been widely circulated in media and in Web logs around the world. On Thursday, it even was mentioned in the latest taped message attributed to Osama Bin Laden.
“It is not the practice, and will not be the practice, to release conversations between the prime minister and other world leaders,” Blair’s official spokesperson said. “But what we can confirm is that the memo does not refer to bombing the Al Jazeera station in Qatar, despite the various allegations.”
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