A former CIA agent says Iran is the real culprit behind the Lockerbie bombing.
John Holt was the US intelligence officer handling the inquiry’s star witness, Libyan double agent Abdul-Majid Giaka, but he was never called to the hearing.
Mr Holt claims attempts were made to detract attention from Iran and focus on Libya.
"I have reason to believe there was a concerted effort, for unexplained reasons, to switch the original investigations away from Iran and its bomb-making Palestinian extremist ally the PFLP General Command," he told The Telegraph.
“Now we should focus a new investigation on the Iranians and their links with the bomber.
"I would start by asking the current Attorney General William Barr why he suddenly switched focus in 1991, when he was also attorney general, from where clear evidence was leading, to a much less likely scenario involving Libyans."
Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 on its journey from London to New York killing 270 people, mostly Americans on their way home for Christmas.
Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Al Megrahi was jailed for life in 2001 after being found guilty of the murder of 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 residents of Lockerbie who died in the attack.
He is the only person to be convicted over the bombing.
Al Megrahi, who denied involvement, died in Libya in 2012 after being released three years earlier by Scotland's government on compassionate grounds after a diagnosis of terminal cancer.
In March, an independent Scottish review body ruled his family could launch an appeal after concluding there might have been a miscarriage of justice.
The Scottish Supreme Court is now considering whether to quash the conviction.
Mr Holt said Mr Giaka had a history of "making up stories" and during his time as his handler he never mentioned Libyan involvement in the bombing. He also claimed Mr Giaka bore a grudge against Al Megrahi.
"Whatever the Scottish Supreme Court decides, Britain should reopen the whole Lockerbie saga, have a heart to heart with the Americans, and go after Iran," he said.
"I have reason to believe that the three security agencies of the US government were working on evidence pointing directly to Iran, before the Libyan connection was brought into play.
"I believe the US government tried to hide evidence for political reasons, and Britain also was willing to go along with this.
"We now all need to admit we got the wrong man and focus on the real culprits."
A 419-page report in March found that new information still pointed to “Libya, and Megrahi as an operative in 1988 for that state, as being the culprits in the bombing of PA 103”.
But it said the failure of prosecutors to disclose that the US government had paid a key witness, and questions over the identity of Al Megrahi as the man who bought items packed inside the suitcase that contained the bomb, meant the case should go to appeal.
In 2003, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi accepted his country's responsibility for the bombing and paid compensation to the victims' families, but did not admit to personally ordering the attack.
Al Megrahi's family and some relatives of the Scottish victims have always doubted the convicted man’s guilt.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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3pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
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5pm Sharjah Marathon (PA) Dh70,000 2,700m
Winner RB Grynade, Bernardo Pinheiro, Eric Lemartinel.
