by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 16 May 2023 The foreign secretary claims his role is ‘defending democracy and freedom’ around the world. In fact, he’s Whitehall’s point man for backing several of the world’s most repressive regimes, as his own tweets show. When James Cleverly was reappointed foreign secretary last October, he tweeted he was “honoured” to […]
Topic: Qatar
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 27 June 2022 Salman Abedi and his closest family were part of Libyan militias benefitting from British covert military support six years before he murdered 22 people at the Manchester Arena in 2017. He is likely to have been radicalised by his experience. Close friend of Abedi convicted of terrorism […]
By Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 23 June 2021 Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) is about to establish a second fighter squadron with Qatar, an authoritarian Gulf state accused of supporting extremist groups across the Middle East which the UK itself opposes and says promote terrorism. UK/Qatar squadron will be established in September in Yorkshire, northern […]
By Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 25 May 2021 The public inquiry into the 2017 Manchester terrorist attack shows no sign of investigating the UK’s covert role in the Libya war of 2011 – in which the bomber had fought. He is one of four terrorists from that conflict who went on to slaughter 63 people, […]
By Phil Miller and Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 24 February 2021 The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, has held 95 meetings with eight repressive monarchies in the Middle East since the ‘Arab Spring’ protests of 2011 threatened their power. Charles has played a key role in promoting £14.5-billion worth of UK arms exports […]
by Mark Curtis and Matt Kennard Declassified UK, 20 September 2019 The British government is continuing to approve the export of hi-tech surveillance equipment and software of the type that is being used by states abusing human rights to monitor and repress dissent, new government figures show. The government’s exports of “telecommunications interception equipment” to […]
Articles ‘”Excited at the Prospect” UK Used Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait to Boost Arms Sales‘ (Sputnik News, 16 August 2017)
by Mark Curtis Published in Middle East Eye, 25 April 2018 Some commentators in the British mainstream media believe the UK has “done nothing” in the war in Syria and lament the failure to help stop it. In fact, Britain has engaged in a covert operation with allies to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad for more than […]
Article published in Middle East Eye, 5 April 2018 By Mark Curtis The revelation that the British government likely had contacts with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and the 17 February Martyrs Brigade during the 2011 war in Libya – groups for which the 2017 Manchester bomber and his father reportedly fought at […]
A Briefing by Mark Curtis[1] and Nafeez Ahmed[2] 3 June 2017 (This briefing will be updated as more evidence emerges. Sources are overwhelmingly from mainstream media, except where clearly stated). A PDF version of this briefing is available here ** Introduction The evidence suggests that the barbaric Manchester bombing, which killed 22 innocent people on […]