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
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The first ship of the Maghreb fleet delivering aid to break the siege on Gaza departs from the port of Gammarth in Tunisia.
Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out major bombings in the Gaza Strip, the most violent since October 7
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree: The missile force carried out a major operation using the Palestine 2 ballistic hypersonic missile, hitting several targets in occupied Yafa.
Sirens sound in large areas of occupied Palestine after a missile launch from Yemen was detected
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 14 martyrs arrive at al-Shifa Hospital following Israeli massacre of al-Sultan Family north of Gaza.

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

Support for British Monarchy at record low, survey shows

Nigel Farage unveils immigration plan to crackdown on asylum seekers

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

The damaged building in the Katara neighborhood, Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025 (Social media)

Hamas delegation survives Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar

  • Politics
  • 9 Sep 2025
Israeli police and rescue teams respond at the scene of a shooting attack where several people killed and injured in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 (AP)

Al-Quds shooting: 7 settlers killed, several critically injured

  • Politics
  • 8 Sep 2025
Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

Pro-'Israel' far-right Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, on Friday, September 27, 2024 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' stops unfunded diplomacy ahead of UN, October 7 memorial

An Israeli Air Force fighter jet releases flares over the Gaza Strip, is seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 8, 2025 (AP)
Politics

OIC summit draft: Israeli attack on Qatar risks normalization

People shout slogans and hold Palestinian flags while protesting during the twenty-first stage of La Vuelta cycling race from Alalpardo to Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP)
Sports

Pro-Palestine protests force abrupt end to Vuelta a España finale

Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas' political leadership in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime faces growing isolation over Qatar strike: Reports

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