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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear List-members,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Did anyone hear the Simon Mayo show on BBC R5 today
? He was talking to Hans Blix, on the line from Stockholm. Blix repeated much of
the same stuff he came out with at the week-end, then the interview was
interrupted to cover a Press Conference about the predicamant of the Leicester
City players in Spain. When the interview resumed. Mayo asked Blix if he
reckoned T Blair is trustworthy. Blix replied diplomatically, saying that Blair
is a powerful politician, but that on the issue of Iraq/WMD etc his judgement
was not as critical as it could've been. Mayo pressed the original question, 'Is
he trustworthy ?' Blix sounded rather amused, but fenced no further, and said
(I'm paraphrasing here, don't have it taped) words to the effect that 'no, on
this issue, he can't be trusted...' At that point there was an audible soft
click and the line went dead. Mayo sounded shocked, even embarrassed, said
something like 'Well, I'm sorry, perhaps someone was, well, we can't say
that...'</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If someone like Hans Blix cannot speak his
mind on such weighty matters without being silenced, what chance have the rest
of us ? Okay, the Beeb has been through the wringer of late, but presumably the
BBC was responsible for establishing the telephone contact with Mr Blix
and its own technicians would have been monitoring the integrity of
the line prior to interview. Who stopped the interview ? Did it happen inside
the BBC, or are its lines subjected to instant and anonymous editorial control
by other parties ? How is such interference technically achieved,
and who authorises it ? Is this 'unfortunate incident' simply not
worthy of comment, isn't 'newsworthy' because, well, 'these things happen'
?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Is this just conspiratorial raving ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Interested for any thoughts on this.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ian
Brotherhood</FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>