I'm not getting you flowers,
or chocolates or gumph.
If you want me to talk to you
£2 a month

It rubs the lotion
On its skin
or else it gets
the hose again

A Foreign Office minister sent Libyan officials detailed legal advice on how to use Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s cancer diagnosis to ensure he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.
The Duke of York is also said to have played a behind-the-scenes role in encouraging the terrorist’s release.
The Libyans closely followed the advice which led to the controversial release of Megrahi – who was convicted of the murder of 270 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103 – within months of the Foreign Office’s secret intervention.
The disclosure seriously undermines British Government claims that is was not complicit in the release of al-Megrahi, and that the decision to free the convicted terrorist was taken by the Scottish Executive alone.

It's about time something came out of this that could cause a bit of a storm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... omber.html

I'm not a rapist
Oh no, not me!
I'll just hide right here
In this embassy.

Worst haiku ever.

He's quite clearly a dick, and he's quite possibly a rapist. However, his reasoning for what he's doing is sound. If he winds up in the States, he could potentially face trial for espionage. Everything he's doing is to avoid ending up in the US.

Because the UK has never extradited people to the US.

Speaking to Press Association, 19-year-old Paul Milligan, from Kentish Town, said:
I heard about this at 1am and walked here to protest. If Britain is essentially about to invade Ecuador, then I want to have a say about that. If they load him in a police van to try to bring him out, I intend to sit in front of the van and obstruct it in any way I can.
The point about Julian Assange is that he didn't doctor any of the materials - he released the documents and said to the world 'This is the truth, have a look at it and see what you think'. The idea that somebody can be snatched from the Ecuadorian embassy in London by British police, and sent to Sweden then possibly America, is ludicrous.

"You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take actions in order to arrest Mr Assange in the current premises of the embassy.

We need to reiterate that we consider the continued use of the diplomatic premises in this way incompatible with the Vienna convention and unsustainable and we have made clear the serious implications that this has for our diplomatic relations."

Assuming that Ecuador don't have a helipad in the embassy, or a tunnel that leads into international waters, why bother storming it when one day he'll have to leave to, like, get to Ecuador? I'm fairly certain that even if the ambassador is in the car, giving him diplomatic privilege, the car can be stopped. And Ecuador can't give Assange DP to prevent him being arrested at that point, as it has to be approved on an individual basis by the host state,

Good name for a presenter.

They were discussing this on R4 last night*, running through possible scenarios. They could stop the car, then jsut wait. Or hang about outside. And wait. or knock on teh door and say "hello, we're here for him".

*The person being interviewed said something about there being more outlandish scenarios, and the presenter was "Oh, do go on.."

And Ecuador can't give Assange DP to prevent him being arrested at that point

I bet he sneaks out the back door in one of Curiositys bins

Ecuador has granted him asylum.

Jesus, this is never going to end.

Assuming that Ecuador don't have a helipad in the embassy,

This would be spectacular. Technically, the UK would have to shoot down a random helicopter flying into London.

I liked the letter from the UK government:

"You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take actions in order to arrest Mr Assange in the current premises of the embassy.

We need to reiterate that we consider the continued use of the diplomatic premises in this way incompatible with the Vienna convention and unsustainable and we have made clear the serious implications that this has for our diplomatic relations."'

Diplomatese for "Look, there are laws about this sort of thing, and you're on the wrong side of them. Hand him over or we'll start to get pissed off, you tinpoint banana republic bunch of twats"

And this is the letter that Ecuador said was Britain threatening to attack the nation’s London Embassy if it did not hand over WikiLeaker Julian Assange...

Didn't they refer to some UK legislation though, which I thought was directly incompatible with the Vienna doodah?

The Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act, yes. I'm not sure it's incompatible with the Vienna Convention, tho.
The Vienna Convention says a lot less than most people assume it does.

The Vienna Convention says a lot less than most people assume it does.

FUCK YOU, FUCKFACE.

The Vienna Convention says a lot less than most people assume it does.

1.The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter
them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.
2.The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises
of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the
mission or impairment of its dignity.
3.The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of
transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.

Article 22 seems pretty clear:



ETA: Mr Kissyfur wins!