Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian Ministry of Health: Two were martyred in Israeli shelling that targeted a besieged house in the town of Qabatiya in Jenin
At least 68 dead in migrant shipwreck off Yemen: IOM
Trump: We want to feed the people in Gaza, we do not want them to starve.
US President Donald Trump: We will impose sanctions on Russia if it does not end the war on Ukraine.
Israeli media: Polls show that 52% oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while only 29% support him.
Israeli media: 32% of Americans still support "Israel's" war on Hamas, while 60% oppose it.
Israeli media: Core US support for "Israel" hits its lowest, while support for Palestine reaches its highest levels.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reports martyrs, injuries in Israeli bombardment of home in Heker al-Jame area in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
Al-Quds Governorate: Today, the spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque began in a public and dangerous manner, and we warn of a religious war in the region
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 175, including 93 children

Declassified UK: foreign ministry 'misled parliament' in Assange case

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Declassified UK
  • 3 Dec 2022 13:23
  • 8 Shares
4 Min Read

The UK government remains under fire after it was revealed 15 people were appointed by the UK government to the secret operation to kidnap Assange.

  • x
  • MP David Rutley (Cheshire Live)
    MP David Rutley (Cheshire Live)

British MP and former Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, accused Foreign Office Minister David Rutley, of “misleading parliament” over his department’s involvement in the secret operation to kidnap Julian Assange.

MacAskill was referring to Operation Pelican, the secret Metropolitan Police-led operation to seize Assange from asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2019, as he asked the minister “whether any people working on Operation Pelican were based within [its] Department’s premises.” 

In response, Rutley told parliament last week: “No Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FDCO] officials were directly assigned to work on Operation Pelican.” However, that contradicts a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request in July 2021 when the Foreign Office confirmed that “three FCDO officials did some work on Operation Pelican, the most senior of which was Head of Latin America Department.”

In the Ministerial Code, ministers are required to “be as open as possible with parliament” and to “give accurate and truthful information”, which in turn "governs the answers ministers provide to parliamentary questions”.

It was revealed last Tuesday that at least 15 people were appointed by the UK government to the secret operation to seize WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

‘Pelican’ came to light after being revealed in the memoirs published last year by former Foreign Minister Sir Alan Duncan - the key British official in the diplomatic negotiations between the UK and Ecuador to release Assange from the Embassy.

In his memoirs, the Former Minister revealed that he watched live footage of Assange’s arrest from the Operations Room of the Foreign Office alongside personnel carrying out the operation. After the events took place and Assange was imprisoned, Duncan had drinks at his office for the operation team. “I gave them each a signed photo which we took in the Ops Room on the day, with a caption saying ‘Julian Assange’s Special Brexit Team 11th April 2019,’” he wrote. 

Ratting each other out 

Related News

UK minister defends Palestine recognition as peers question legality

Portugal weighs recognition of Palestine at UNGA in September

David Rutley, Conservative MP for Macclesfield, current foreign minister for the Americas and Caribbean as of October 2022, and currently serving under foreign secretary James Cleverly, is a supporter of PM Rishi Sunak. 

Kenny MacAskill, MP for East Lothian, told Declassified UK: “This new information shows that foreign minister David Rutley misled parliament in answering my recent question. It demonstrates not just the standard obfuscation I have become used to, but actual distortion of the facts about the UK government’s effort to ‘get’ Julian Assange.”

He continued: “The actions of the British government have not simply been to assist the US. They have been active and willing participants in the state-sponsored cruelty meted out to Assange. And then tried to hide it all.”

Home Office minister Kit Malthouse relayed to parliament, despite having eight staff assigned to the Pelican operation, that he has no information surrounding whether other ministries have their hands in it as well. 

Then, in a later response to an FOI request, the Home Office refused to confirm or deny whether it holds information on inter-departmental communication about Pelican. This refusal to rule out whether the Home Office does hold information on the matter raises concerns that Malthouse may also have earlier misled parliament.

According to documents obtained by Declassified UK through an FOI request, officials involved in the operation include, but are not limited to, senior officials such as the Deputy National Security Advisor at the Cabinet Office and the International Director at the Home Office. 

Assange has been unlawfully charged in the US with 17 counts of "espionage" and one count of computer misuse in connection with WikiLeaks' disclosure of tens of thousands of military and diplomatic documents - whereby Assange exposed the US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan - that whistleblower Chelsea Manning had disclosed.

Belmarsh maximum security prison has been where Assange is being kept in the UK for three and a half years so far as he awaits a potential 175-year sentence following the approval in December 2021 of his extradition to the US by the UK High Court.

Four of Britain’s most powerful government ministries continue to refuse to announce if their officials convened with US authorities to discuss the case of Julian Assange - an unjust case that violates human rights at its very core. 

Watch next: Julian Assange mural found in Moscow 

  • UK
  • David Rutley
  • Kenny MacAskill
  • Julian Assange

Most Read

A rescued crew member from the ETERNITY C vessel in a video released by the Yemeni Armed Forces on July 28, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen Navy reveals fate of targeted Eternity C ship crew

  • Politics
  • 28 Jul 2025
An Israeli tank explodes following an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, Occupied Palestine, undated (Al-Qassam Military Media)

Al-Qassam strikes Israeli vehicles in Gaza, inflicts casualties

  • Politics
  • 30 Jul 2025
UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

  • Politics
  • 1 Aug 2025
Protesters chant anti-Israeli slogans as they carry a banner that reads:" Freedom for Palestine, Alliance stop the war," during a demonstration in support of Palestinians in Gaza, outside the Israeli embassy, in Athens, Monday, June 9, 2025 (AP)

Athens mayor slams Israeli ambassador over Gaza war, graffiti claim

  • Politics
  • 3 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, takes part in a parade as he celebrates a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, January 19, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Al-Qassam: We’ll allow aid to Israeli captives if Gaza siege ends

Freed Lebanese freedom fighter Georges Abdallah during an interview on Al Mayadeen, which aired on Sunday, August 3, 2025 (Al Mayadeen screengrab)
Politics

Exclusive: Resistance key to building state, Georges Abdallah says

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres gives a statement about the situation in Gaza at UN headquarters, Friday, June 27, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN warns Gaza faces water crisis, looming famine under Israeli siege

Israeli soldiers drive their armored personnel carrier along the Gaza Strip, in southern occupied Palestine, Wednesday, July 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ex-Israeli general says Gaza starvation campaign isolated 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS