UK Defense Ministry offers independent inquiry into handling of SAS killing claims

The Royal Military Police investigated allegations that a single Special Air Service unit in 2010-2011 unlawfully executed 54 Afghans. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 27 July 2022
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UK Defense Ministry offers independent inquiry into handling of SAS killing claims

  • Court filings show Royal Military Police officer tasked with probe was ‘close friend’ of SAS officer
  • Deputy faced ‘political pressure’ to avoid investigating elite unit, court hears

LONDON: The UK Defense Ministry has offered to launch an independent inquiry into its handling of claims that Britain’s elite Special Air Service killed unarmed civilians during the war in Afghanistan, BBC News reported.

Amid a legal case brought against Defense Minister Ben Wallace, court filings suggest that there were significant flaws in the ministry’s initial investigation, led by the Royal Military Police.

The RMP investigated allegations that a single SAS unit in 2010-2011 unlawfully executed 54 Afghans.

But documents show that the senior officer in charge of the RMP probe, Brig. David Neal, was suspected of attempting to shut down investigations.

Neal was reportedly a “close friend” of the SAS officer in charge of the unit at the center of the claims.

The RMP official allegedly shut down investigations into eight separate cases of potential unlawful execution.

Neal’s deputy claimed, according to court documents, that he was placed under “political pressure” to avoid progressing investigations into senior SAS members involved in the unit.

The Defense Ministry’s legal chief, Peter Ryan, said in 2020 that the SAS’ explanations over the killings were “highly questionable, if not actually implausible.”

He warned that the RMP investigation was “unduly narrowly focused given the strength of insider concerns.

“Only a proportion of the large-scale shooting incidents over the six-month period in 2010-2011 were investigated in any detail.

“And there have been no investigations of earlier special forces deployments, during at least some of which even more Afghans were killed, again with relatively few weapons being recovered.”

Relatives of four men killed in a 2011 raid in Afghanistan reject the findings of the RMP probe and are engaged in a legal case against Wallace.

The ministry’s proposed new investigation into the way the allegations were handled would be led by a senior judge.

It would only examine the handling of the subsequent claims, however, as opposed to the legality of the killings, the ministry said, noting that the initial investigation had failed to find grounds for prosecution.

If prior investigations are found to be flawed, it could pave the way for the reopening of an investigation into the killings.

John Healey, UK shadow defense secretary, said that the proposed fresh inquiry was a “welcome first step.”

He added: “Australian special forces were investigated fully by a properly resourced inquiry backed by privacy and military expertise. There is no reason why this shouldn’t be possible in Britain.”

However, Tessa Gregory, who is representing an Afghan family in the case against Wallace, described the ministry’s proposed review as “so limited in what it can look at that it cannot bring the truth to light.

“Our clients desperately need answers to why their loved ones died and any investigation must fearlessly examine the underlying allegations of extrajudicial killings.”

A Defense Ministry spokesperson said: “The defense minister has decided to propose an independent review to be led by a senior judge into issues arising from the handling of allegations of misconduct that are the subject of these proceedings.

“The review will consider what lessons can be learned and make any recommendations for the future.”


Canada is already examining tariffs on certain US items following Trump’s tariff threat

Updated 3 sec ago
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Canada is already examining tariffs on certain US items following Trump’s tariff threat

TORONTO: Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official said Wednesday.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across southern and northern borders. He said he would impose a 25 percent tax on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
A Canadian government official said Canada is preparing for every eventuality and has started thinking about what items to target with tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed no decision has been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.
When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the US in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Many of the US products were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada imports $3 million worth of yogurt from the US annually and most comes from one plant in Wisconsin, home state of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan. That product was hit with a 10 percent duty.
Another product on the list was whiskey, which comes from Tennessee and Kentucky, the latter of which is the home state of then-Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump made the threat Monday while railing against an influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at Canadian border pale in comparison to the southern border.
The US Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone — and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024.
Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but say they are happy to work with the Trump administration to lower the numbers from Canada. The Canadians are also worried about a influx north of migrants if Trump follows through with his plan for mass deportations.
Trump also railed about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures from the Canadian border pale in comparison to the Mexican border. US customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
Canadian officials argue their country is not the problem and that tariffs will have severe implications for both countries.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60 percent of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85 percent of US electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
“Canada is essential to the United States’ domestic energy supply,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
Trump has pledged to cut American energy bills in half within 18 months, something that could be made harder if a 25 percent premium is added to Canadian oil imports. In 2023, Canadian oil accounted for almost two-thirds of total US oil imports and about one-fifth of the US oil supply.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is holding a emergency virtual meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of Canada’s provinces, who want Trudeau to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States that excludes Mexico.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that her administration is already working up a list of possible retaliatory tariffs “if the situation comes to that.”

Musk calls for abolishing consumer finance watchdog targeted by Republicans

Updated 19 min 10 sec ago
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Musk calls for abolishing consumer finance watchdog targeted by Republicans

Billionaire Elon Musk, tasked with slashing government costs by US President-elect Donald Trump, on Wednesday called for the elimination of a federal regulatory agency charged with protecting consumers in the financial sector.
The comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) follows Musk’s recent appointment to a government efficiency role, further amplifying the influence of the world’s richest man, who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected.
“Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X.
The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate outside the confines of government.
The CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law to police and regulate consumer financial products following the 2008 crisis and only Congress has the power to eliminate it.
Separately, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources, that the consumer finance watchdog is moving ahead with rulemaking in the final weeks of Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, in a bid to advance consumer protections before Trump overhauls the agency.
Republicans have sought to curtail or eliminate the agency from the outset, but legislative efforts to either scrap it altogether, or place stricter limits on its funding and leadership structure, have failed to gain traction in the years since its creation.
Banking industry executives and lawyers also anticipate the incoming Trump administration will likely place significant limits on the CFPB.

Trump turns to outsider to shake up Navy, but his lack of military experience raises concerns

Updated 19 min 24 sec ago
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Trump turns to outsider to shake up Navy, but his lack of military experience raises concerns

  • The appointment comes at a critical moment for the Navy, which has been stretched thin with deployments around the world

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, has not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service. While officials and defense experts said the Navy is in sore need of a disruptor, they cautioned that Phelan’s lack of experience could make it more difficult for him to realize Trump’s goals.
Trump late Tuesday nominated Phelan, a major donor to his campaign who founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment on his qualifications. According to his biography, Phelan’s primary exposure to the military comes from an advisory position he holds on the Spirit of America, a non-profit that supports the defense of Ukraine and the defense of Taiwan.
Not all service secretaries come into the office with prior military experience, but he’d be the first in the Navy since 2006. Current Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth similarly does not have prior military service. She, however, has spent her career in a host of defense civilian positions.
The appointment comes at a critical moment for the Navy, which has been stretched thin with deployments around the world and must contend with a shrinking fleet even as the naval forces of its main rival, China, are growing. Trump has campaigned on expanding the Navy and would need to fight bureaucratic inertia to do so. But it’s uncertain whether a secretary with no military experience — either in uniform or as a defense civilian — would be well-positioned to lead that effort.
“It will be difficult for anyone without experience in the Pentagon to take over the leadership of a service and do a good job,” said Stacie Pettyjohn, a senior fellow and director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. “Services are sprawling organizations with distinct cultures, subcultures and bureaucratic interests, and where decisions are made through many formal processes. To change a service’s plans, one must understand this Byzantine landscape.”
Experts said Phelan’s nomination reflects that Trump is seeking service branch heads who will not push back on his ideas — but that Phelan’s lack of experience is likely to create issues and delays of its own, They say the Navy can’t afford to lose time. One of the Navy’s biggest challenges is preparing for a potential military confrontation with China over Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China claims as its own.
“The stakes are high,” said Brad Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “The success or failure in addressing key problems in the US Navy over the next couple years may have a decisive effect on war and peace in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere.”
Trump has called for a 350-ship Navy since his 2016 presidential campaign, but he experienced first-hand the difficulty in realizing that goal, given the challenges to shipbuilding and the erratic and often delayed congressional budget process.
There are just under 300 battle force ships in the fleet — vessels that have a direct role in conducting combat operations.
“The Navy is stretched covering Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. Strategists have wanted to pull back from Europe and the Middle East, but recent conflicts have prevented that,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “So the next secretary will have a shrinking fleet, expanded overseas commitments, and an uncertain budget environment.”
The Marine Corps has called for 31 amphibious warships to help it maintain a close-to-shore presence around the globe. The Navy regularly has had to extend the deployments of its aircraft carriers and escorting destroyers, for example, to respond to the unstable security situation in the Middle East.
Each extension can create rippling effects: Ships don’t get maintained on schedule, and forces get tired of the lack of predictability for their families and leave the service.
Service branch chiefs spend vast amounts of time not only responding to the White House but also appeasing members of Congress in frequent hearings on Capitol Hill, shaping budget requests, holding constant meetings on service member issues, attending industry conferences and filling speakers requests. That all requires a nuanced understanding of the service that a secretary is leading, because major change in any of the branches often involves a lengthy process to review directives and past policy. Any changes to the many weapons systems the Navy and Marine Corps need and pursue are subject to lengthy contract award challenges.
“The Navy’s problem here is money,” Cancian said. “Even if the defense budget goes up, there will only be a relatively small increase available for shipbuilding. (If) the budget stays steady or goes down, then the Navy will have a major problem. The fleet will continue to shrink.”
Trump has signaled through multiple appointments, such as his selection of SpaceX founder Elon Musk to co-lead a nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency, that he seeks to cut through red tape. But the service secretary can’t do that without moving through Congress, which has produced many of those regulations and processes the military must follow.
“It might help that he has a personal relationship with the president. However, his lack of experience in defense and the Pentagon will hurt the Navy,” Cancian said. “It will take him a while to learn the levers of power.”


Watchdog refers 40 UK charities to police over Israel-Hamas war

Charities in the UK have been under scrutiny for hate speech related to the war in Gaza. (AFP)
Updated 46 min 11 sec ago
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Watchdog refers 40 UK charities to police over Israel-Hamas war

  • Charity Commission opens further 200 regulatory cases related to the conflict in Gaza
  • Head of the organization says it is cracking down on antisemitism and hate speech

LONDON: Regulators in the UK investigating breaches of rules by charitable organizations during their activities linked to the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza have referred 40 cases to the police since the Oct. 7 attacks last year.

The Charity Commission also opened 200 regulatory cases related to the conflict during the same period, the watchdog’s chairperson, Orlando Fraser, said.

The figures offer further evidence of the extent to which the fighting in the Middle East has led to polarization and hateful rhetoric in Europe and the US. In the UK’s charity sector, where many of the organizations have religious affiliations, the conflict has resulted in hundreds of cases the Charity Commission has felt the need to investigate.

The watchdog has moved robustly to take action against “perpetrators of concerning activities linked to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza, including antisemitic and hate speech,” Fraser said during a speech at the commission’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.

The 200 regulatory cases related to the war it has looked into involved charities “with different views on the conflict,” he added. The 40 referrals to the police were made in cases where the commission considered criminal offenses might have been committed.

“We are clear that charities must never become vehicles for hate and we have robustly enforced that position,” Fraser said.


UK counter terrorism police arrest seven over ‘PKK activity’

Updated 27 November 2024
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UK counter terrorism police arrest seven over ‘PKK activity’

  • British police said they were carrying out searches at eight premises across London, including the Kurdish Community Center in the north of the capital

LONDON: British police said they had arrested seven people and were searching a Kurdish community center in London as part of a counter terrorism investigation into suspected activity linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK.
Those arrested were five men and two women, aged between 23 and 62, police said, adding there was no imminent threat to the public.
“This activity has come about following a significant investigation and operation into activity we believe is linked to the terrorist group PKK,” said Acting Commander Helen Flanagan.
“These are targeted arrests of those we suspect of being involved in terrorist activity linked to the group.”
The PKK, a militant group founded in southeast Turkiye in 1978 with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state, was banned in Britain in 2001. The group has been involved in a 40-year conflict, leading to more than 40,000 deaths.
British police said they were carrying out searches at eight premises across London, including the Kurdish Community Center in the north of the capital, which is likely to be closed to the public for up to two weeks.
Flanagan said later on Wednesday that the police understood the arrests had caused concern among some local communities, especially those in the Kurdish community.
“I want to reassure the community that our activity is being carried out to keep everyone safe from potential harm, including those within the Kurdish community itself,” Flanagan said.