Why Bollier Suspected the Libyans

The MEBO Files, part 2
July 4 2010
last updates/edits July 10


In the early 1990s, long before he came out of the closet as a Libya-Megrahi supporter with reams of accusations against Scots-American investigators, Swiss merchant Edwin Bollier sneakily told these same authorities that he actually believed the Libyans were behind the bombing. Now, he had said just that in early 1989 with his semi-famous “catch-letter,” but that was only because a shadowy CIA man had told him to do it.

But his continuing charade, as he explains his helpful phase, went beyond the terms behind that note and raises questions. For example, was it the same agent’s nefarious demands each time he spoke up, or was there a whole team steering the poor man towards implicating Libya? Or was he, as the rest of this article presumes, more self-motivated than all that?

In a January 14 1991 interview with the FBI and Swiss authorities, Bollier said he had written that letter two years earlier to get the investigators “away from the wrong track and to bring them onto the Libyan track." It goes beyond giving the mystery man what he demanded; Bollier says (up to 2000 anyway) that on Jan 5 he himself felt that Libya was the right track to investigate.

Something Was Going On
It was a gut-feeling Swiss suspicion, or “Swisspicion” as it will now be called, that prompted a phone call to his acquaintance Abdelbaset al Megrahi, somewhere around Christmas (see below). He was driven partly by an odd “impression that something was going on,” he recalled at trial a decade later, and cited two powerful clues while apparently meaning to cite only one. “[W]hen this mystery man came along -- or when I found that the timer had been programmed, we ourselves,” meaning he and Mebo co-founder Erwin Meister, “believed that the Libyans were involved.”

The reason he started giving was the mystery man and his alleged visit on the morning of December 30, which was of course after the call in question. The man, who perhaps didn’t exist, had started by telling Edwin that he’d been selling timers to Tripoli for years, and had just been there to sell more right as Lockerbie happened. Chilled to the bone to realize the CIA was monitoring arms sales to Libya, Bollier was then told, as he recalled at trial, “and I can tell you that the Libyans are connected with this attack." All he needed Edwin to do was write a fabricated letter to the CIA telling them what they were already sure of. And this he finds convincing?

No, he had cut himself off, remembering it was the timer re-set, not the CIA man’s statement, that had sparked up his swisspicion. This requires some explaining.

The Olympic Clue
Around December 1, Bollier says (unconfirmed as far as I know) the Libyans told Mebo they wanted 40 more MST-13 units like the ones thay had bought 20 of in 1985. He didn’t have any handy and couldn’t make any more soon enough, so he bought 40 Olympus timers (sometimes translated as “watches” during the trial) on the open market. As he was getting this story on record with the FBI in January ’91, Bollier said “prior to my departure, I did a final check on all timers and reset them to zero."

As he flew out December 18, Bollier brought these fully blank timers in his carry-on luggage (his checked luggage being its own story). He tried to sell them to the Libyans, marked up too much. They wanted MST-13s, these were too expensive, they would keep them anyway, and Abdelbaset al Megrahi would hand over the money, he was told (this allegation will also be addressed separately). He left the timers with alleged Libyan bigwig Ezzadin Hinshiri the 19th, but then had Megrahi flake out on the money meeting. Not having been paid, Bollier says he collected the timer/watches back from Hinshiri in the morning, and wound up bringing back home in failure on December 20, the day before Lockerbie.

Within a few days after this trip, Bollier told investigators, he had looked at one of these fully blank units handled by Hinshiri and found its screen showed a peculiar setting: “Wednesday,” being December 21, and a time - 7:30 pm - exactly 27 minutes after the detonation on board PA103. This could only come from Hinshiri’s hands, connected to his brain, and his brain to the bombing plot, Bollier apparently deduced.

At trial in June 2000 (Day 26) Edwin still swore by this find; “That is true. Yes. That the timer was programmed; that is true.” He says he removed the battery and told his partner, Mr. Meister about the unusual setting but did not show it to him. Meister, however, had already recalled at trial (Day 22) Bollier actually showing him the timer with its setting, which he agreed said Wednesday and 7:30. As the Zeist judges summarized in their Opinion of the Court, paragraph [46]:
We do not accept the evidence of either of these two witnesses about this alleged discovery. It was established, and Mr Meister was forced to accept, that the Olympus timer was incapable of showing a date. Moreover, the evidence of both witnesses about what they claimed to have seen and the circumstances in which they claimed to have made the discovery was so inconsistent that we are wholly unable to accept any of it.
---
Update July 7: Bollier alerts me the Zeist judges were wrong to dismiss this clue. He sent me a low resolution picture (inset, cleaned up a bit) of the model in question, TM2. There is no date display as in 21/12, but that not what He and Meister said. It was the day name Wednesday. Bollier cites: "LC Display Window ; Display selector switsch; Mode selector; Select button; Set button; Hours>>Minutes (: Seconds); ON Time, Off Time; AM > PM; At the bottom left hand corner > Day of the week = ( SUN > MON > TUE >WED >THU >FRI > SAT" Indeed. The one shown seems to say "SUN" (highlighted). So, Bollier stands by his claim of what he saw, that someone other than him entered this day/time - and not necessarily a Libyan (see comments below)
---
This was therefore not accepted as evidence against the Libyan Hinshiri, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on Mebo’s part. Now if they had accepted it as consistent, it might seem a fair reason for Bollier to suspect Libyan involvement, ring them up suspiciously, and then compliantly write a letter on his imaginary friend’s advice. (The judges do also dismiss the “mystery man” as fiction of the “spy thriller” sort). Just what that clue would mean, if accepted, is a little less promising. All I can see in it is one of four possibilities:

A) It was coincidence based on the visit’s timing; Hinshiri wanted to see if it could be set for, say, two days from now – which just happened to be the day that PA103 blew up. (the time mismatch would support this)

B) Hinshiri, a PA103 plotter, was practicing to see if this Olympus timer/watch would work for the bombing two days away, but then let it go as too expensive for the destruction of an American airliner. And just forgot to re-set it to zero.

C) Less directly, he was just typing the bombing time into unrelated electronics at random to make sure he has it memorized (he didn't - 27 minutes off), or something to that effect. And again, he just forgets to re-set it to zero before he hands it back, knowing the bombing will shock the world two days later.

D) As Bollier now says (see comments below) "someone else" aside from a Libyan, might have put that data there for him to see.

I’m unsure if he was trying to imply option B) or C) above, but Bollier would apparently have the Judges believe that Hinshiri had just handed him a major clue to sell to the Americans. I rather prefer the version where he counterfeited this bill of exchange from thin air.

Something Had Happened
Set ablaze by his timer discovery, Bollier says, he placed unusual phone calls (unverified) to both Ezzadin Hinshiri and the man he knew as Abdelbaset, perhaps one week after the Lockerbie bombing. He emphasizes at trial that he was calling to complain about not being paid – for the timers he had brought back with him. But he had complex reasons for these calls, he told Swiss authorities, including:
“I had a feeling that there was a connection between Libya and the crash of Pan Am 103. I wanted to hear them. Experience has shown me that people can no longer be reached when something has happened. This was certainly the case after the American air strike on Libya.”
Or, conversely, after a hypothetical Libyan air strike against America. He couldn’t recall the exact date, but it was “between the 21st -- or between Christmas and New Year,” but prior to the mystery man, so December 29 at the latest. On the call to Megrahi, he said “I telephoned, and he wasn't there. Somebody took the telephone off the hook. But I cannot confirm 100 percent whether it was Mr. Abdelbaset's voice. Anyway, I was told that he was not there.” Well, if people can’t be reached after something has happened, it would seem that something had happened - some unknown event involving timers and December 21 and, apparently, both Hinshiri and Megrahi.
---

14 comments:

ebol said...

MISSION LOCKERBIE:

Why Bollier Suspected the Libyans ?

Counter question in german language: Was aktiviert die "Organisation" Caustic Logic plötzlich, gegen Bollier (MEBO) gezielt und unfair zu "schiessen" ? Will sich Caustic Logic damit in Libya gut "einschleimen" ?
Gaustic war bis anhin meistens sachlich und fair mit Bollier,s (MEBO) Ermittlungs Resultaten.
Versucht da jemand das Scottish Miscarriage of Justice, auf ein "Miscarriage of MEBO" umzulenken ?

Feststellung: Die "Organisation" Caustic Logic wird offensichtlich jeden Tag nervöser;

a) weil Bollier (MEBO) sich weiterhin aktiv für die Hintergründe, der Wahrheitsfindung und der nicht Beteiligung Libyen's und Al Megrahi's, am PanAm 103 Attentat einsetzt und;

b) eine grosse Wahrscheinlichkeit besteht, dass die "Organisation" des unbekannten Landes welche das Dokument unter 'National-Security' (PII), am 13. September 1996 dem Lord Advocate in Scotland übermittelt hatte, demnächst zur Öffnung freigeben werden muss und damit ein neuer Fall "Lockerbie" beginnt,
welcher für einige Offizielle im Gefängnis enden wird wenn man sich die Worte von FBI Spezial Agent und Task Force Chief Richard Marquise anhört.

He said: "If someone manipulated evidence, if somebody didn't invesitgate something that should have been investigated, if somebody twisted it to fit up up Megrahi, or Fimah or Libya, then that person will go to jail. I mean that sincerely, that person should be prosecuted for that."

Gaustic schreibt heute an Bollier in seinem Kommentar: Don't forget, I have the transcripts just like you.
Es wäre schwach, wenn das als Warnung oder Drohung verstanden werden soll ? Gut dass in den Gerichts- und Polizeiakten alles nachgelesen werden kann.
By the way, vielleicht haben wir mehr spezifische Unterlagen als der "Organisation" Gaustic genehm ist...

Zurück zu Gaustic unfairen Angriffen: "Why Bollier Suspected the Libyans" ?

c) Es ist richtig, dass ich mir nach den damaligen News in den Mainstream-Medien, es könne sich beim PanAm 103 Flugzeugabsturz um einen Anschlag, oder Revancheakt handeln, unbegründet gedacht habe, Libyen könne etwas damit zutun haben.

Als dann am 30. Dezember 1988 ein Agent eines bis heute unbekannten Geheimdienstes mich (Bollier) besuchte und von Beteiligung Libyens, MST-13 Timer, Reise über Malta, Brief Order an die CIA etc. sprach; und ich danach beim entfernen der Batterien an den zurückgebrachten 40 Olympus Timern ein Programm mit Zeit: PM 7:30 und Tag: Wednesday sah, glaubte ich anfänglich, dass Libyen mit dem Crash etwas zutun hatte.
Es fällt auf, dass sich Gaustic grosse Mühe macht, mir (Bollier) zu unterstellen, dass der fremde Agent nicht existierte und wie bereits vom Gericht, als unglaubhaft und lächerlich, sogar als der "Dritte Man" dargestellt wurde. (Agenten Film: Der Dritte Man).

d) Dass mein Geschäftspartner und Zeuge Erwin Meister die unwahre Aussage machte, ich hätte ihm Datum und Zeit auf dem Olypus Timer gezeigt, war falsch weil durch das Entfernen der Batterie das Display nichts mehr anzeigte und weil es kein Datums-Anzeige auf den Olympus Timer gab, nur Tages-Namen ! Wieso er diese Aussage gemacht hatte bleibt mir bis heute unklar.

Continuation of the comment down >>>

ebol said...

>>> Continuation

e) Bereits nach der ersten Antwort auf den "Fang-Brief" an die CIA erkannte ich, dass die Angelegenheit vermutlich nichts mit Libyen zutun hatte. Im Laufe des Jahres 1990 wollte man uns bei Befragungen durch die Polizei überzeugen, dass das angeblich in Lockerbie aufgefundne Fragment eines MST-13 Timer von einem der 20 Stück nach Libyen gelieferten Timer abstamme.
Auf den vorgezeigten Photos erkannte wir aber sofort, dass es sich beim Fragment um einen Prototype MST-13 PC-Board handelte, welcher nicht von einem nach Libyen gelieferten MST-13 Timer abstammen konnte ! Alles weitere ist bekannt.


f) Merkwürdig bleibt folgender Fakt: Als ich am schweizer Zoll (Flughafen in Zürich) die aus Libyen zurückgebrachten 40 Olympus-Timer für die Taxenberechnung auf den Tisch auslegen musste, hatte ich nicht festgestellt, dass ein Timer programmiert war! Die Timer befanden sich dann nach dem 20. Dezember 1988 in einer Papiertasche, in den Geschäftsräumen der Fa. MEBO Ltd. Somit bestand die Möglichkeit, dass mit Absicht ein Timer von unbekannt programmiert wurde ?...

g) Über die Hintergründe meines CIA "Fang-Briefes" sind alle wahren Details in den Gerichtakten von (Kamp van Zeist) und von mir als Zeuge unter Eid ausgesagt, protokolliert und publiziert worden. Unbeantwortet bleibt in diesem Zusammenhang bis heute die Frage: Wieso wurde das FBI bis zum 15.Januar 1991 (12 Monate lang) nicht über den Brief durch CIA unterrichtet?

h) Gaustic versteht es geschickt, Fakts zu seinen Gunsten aus dem Kontext zu reissen oder mit getürktem Kommentar für seine Absichten zu verwerten. Aus welchen Gründen?...

i) Im übrigen, gab ich (Bollier) persönlich im Prime-Court in Tripoli Anfang 1991 auf alle von Gustic aufgeworfenen Fakts in diesem Zusammenhang Auskunft.
Der Tag wird kommen an dem ersichtlich wird, dass Bollier (MEBO) nach 18 jährigen Ermittlungen praktisch alle Sachbeweise auf den Tisch gebracht hat, um Libyen und Mr.Al Megrahi endgültig von der Last zu befreien, für die Lockerbie-Tragödie verantwortlich zusein.

by Edwin Bollier, MEBO LTD, Switzerland

Caustic Logic said...

Apologies for sleeping in a little. I want to get your comments up - are any of the 11 other messages any different, or are they all the same? It says continuation of the comment down, but they all look the same. I'll consider it now and respond later.

ebol said...

>>> Continuation

e) Bereits nach der ersten Antwort auf den "Fang-Brief" an die CIA erkannte ich, dass die Angelegenheit vermutlich nichts mit Libyen zutun hatte. Im Laufe des Jahres 1990 wollte man uns bei Befragungen durch die Polizei überzeugen, dass das angeblich in Lockerbie aufgefundne Fragment eines MST-13 Timer von einem der 20 Stück nach Libyen gelieferten Timer abstamme.
Auf den vorgezeigten Photos erkannte wir aber sofort, dass es sich beim Fragment um einen Prototype MST-13 PC-Board handelte, welcher nicht von einem nach Libyen gelieferten MST-13 Timer abstammen konnte ! Alles weitere ist bekannt.


f) Merkwürdig bleibt folgender Fakt: Als ich am schweizer Zoll (Flughafen in Zürich) die aus Libyen zurückgebrachten 40 Olympus-Timer für die Taxenberechnung auf den Tisch auslegen musste, hatte ich nicht festgestellt, dass ein Timer programmiert war! Die Timer befanden sich dann nach dem 20. Dezember 1988 in einer Papiertasche, in den Geschäftsräumen der Fa. MEBO Ltd. Somit bestand die Möglichkeit, dass mit Absicht ein Timer von unbekannt programmiert wurde ?...

g) Über die Hintergründe meines CIA "Fang-Briefes" sind alle wahren Details in den Gerichtakten von (Kamp van Zeist) und von mir als Zeuge unter Eid ausgesagt, protokolliert und publiziert worden. Unbeantwortet bleibt in diesem Zusammenhang bis heute die Frage: Wieso wurde das FBI bis zum 15.Januar 1991 (12 Monate lang) nicht über den Brief durch CIA unterrichtet?

h) Gaustic versteht es geschickt, Fakts zu seinen Gunsten aus dem Kontext zu reissen oder mit getürktem Kommentar für seine Absichten zu verwerten. Aus welchen Gründen?...

i) Im übrigen, gab ich (Bollier) persönlich im Prime-Court in Tripoli Anfang 1991 auf alle von Gustic aufgeworfenen Fakts in diesem Zusammenhang Auskunft.
Der Tag wird kommen an dem ersichtlich wird, dass Bollier (MEBO) nach 18 jährigen Ermittlungen praktisch alle Sachbeweise auf den Tisch gebracht hat, um Libyen und Mr.Al Megrahi endgültig von der Last zu befreien, für die Lockerbie-Tragödie verantwortlich zusein.

by Edwin Bollier, MEBO LTD, Switzerland

Caustic Logic said...

Agaim Babel Fish translation - it gest most words, but leaves sentences as they are - my response will follow
---
Which activates " Organisation" Caustic Logic suddenly, against Bollier (MEBO) purposefully and unfairly too " schiessen" ? Itself Caustic Logic thereby wants in Libya well " einschleimen" ? Caustic was to anhin mostly essentially and fair with Bollier, s (MEBO) determination results. Tried someone the Scottish Miscarriage OF Justice, on " there; Miscarriage OF MEBO" to turn back? Statement: " Organisation" Caustic Logic becomes obviously each day more nervous; a) because Bollier (MEBO) itself further actively for the background, the truth identification and that not participation Libyen' s and Al Megrahi' s, at the PanAm 103 assassination attempt begins and; b) a large probability exists that " Organisation" the unknown country which the document under ' National-Security' (PII), on 13 September 1996 to the lord Advocate in Scotland, for opening will shortly release must and thus a new case had conveyed " Lockerbie" begins, which will end to agent and task Force Chief Richard Marquise for some official ones in the prison if one the words of FBI specially sounds oneself. He said: " If someone manipulated evidence, if somebody didn' t invesitgate something that should have been investigated, if somebody twisted it tons fit UP UP Megrahi, or Fimah or Libya, then that person want go tons jail. I mean that sincerely, that person should fuel element prosecuted for that." Gau TIC writes today Bollier in its comment: Don' t forget, I have the transcripts just like you. It would be weak, if as warning or threat were to be understood? Well that in the court and police documents everything can be reread. By the way, perhaps we " more specific documents than; Organisation" Gau TIC genehm is… Back to Caustic's unfair attacks: " Why Bollier Suspected the Libyans" ? c) It is correctly that I can myself me after the news at that time in the Mainstream media, it with the PanAm 103 aircraft crash around an attack, or revenge act thought to act, unfoundedly, Libya can somewhat thereby to add have. When then on 30 December 1988 an agent visited one to today unknown secret service me (Bollier) and of participation of Libya, MST-13 timer, journey about Malta, letter order to the CIA etc. spoke; and I thereafter with remove the batteries at the returned 40 Olympus timers a program with time: PM 7:30 and day: Wednesday saw, believed I initially that Libya with the Crash add something had. It is noticeable that gau TIC makes itself large trouble to assume to me (Bollier) that the strange agent did not exist and like already from the court, as unbelievably and ridiculously, even as " Third Man" one represented. (Agent film: Third one). d) That my business partner and witness Erwin master made the untrue statement, I it date and time on the Olypus timer would have shown, was wrong because by removing the battery the display nothing more indicated and because Datums-Anzeige on the Olympus did not give it a timer, only daily name! Why it had made this statement remains today unclear for me until.

Caustic Logic said...

So If I gather correctly: My attacks are unfair, and I’m getting more nervous each day
a) because MEBO is uncovering the truth that Libya was not involved
b) the document covered-up with PII/NS in 1996 may be released soon, which will expose the truth and put Marquise in jail, according to his own statements.
c) You did suspect Libyan involvement early on, as I said, from reading the timer. You say “thereafter,” following Dec 30, but this is not what you said before. It was timer, then phone calls, then visit, then letter. Do keep this stuff straight.
d) Meister was wrong, but the re-set was real

Yes, I am made nervous by your relentless pursuit of the truth! [/sarkasmus]

Also, I’m taking pains to assert that the strange agent did not exist, like the judges accepting it as not just untrue but ridiculous. This is true. I do not believe your story. I also discount the timer re-set. I dismiss all your given reasons for suspecting Libya, and suspect $$$ was the true motive for you to pretend you suspected them. I know you disagree with that, and we’ll just have to disagree.

You say Meister was wrong, since taking out the battery made the screen blank, so he could see nothing. Why did you destroy evidence like that? And you deny the Judges’ finding, that Meister was “forced to acknowledge” that dates are not displayed, saying the timers “did not give it a timer, only daily name!” (“Datums-Anzeige auf den Olympus Timer gab, nur Tages-Namen!”) Do you have the model number and specifications handy?

Also, you say “don’t forget I have the transcripts” is a weak threat. It wasn’t meant to scare, more a reminder that you cannot just make up new things without being caught. You remembering that can keep us from wasting time here.

Caustic Logic said...

Apologies, missed the second batch. Auto-translation now, comments later if ever:
---
> > > CONTINUATION e) Already after the first answer to " Catch Brief" to the CIA I recognized that the affair with Libya add probably nothing had. In the course of the yearly 1990 one wanted to convince us with questionings by the police that the fragment of a MST-13 timer allegedly aufgefundne in Lockerbie descends from one of the 20 pieces to Libya supplied timer. In the presented photos recognized we however immediately that it concerned with the fragment prototype a MST-13 PC board, which could not descend from a MST-13 timer supplied to Libya! All further is well-known. f) The following fact remains strange: As I to Swiss tariff (airport in Zurich) the 40 Olympus timers returned from Libya for the tax computation for the table to design had, I had not stated that a timer was programmed! The timers were then after 20 December 1988 in a paper bag, in the business premises of the company MEBO Ltd. Thus did the possibility exist that with intention a timer was programmed by unknown? … g) Over the background of my CIA " Catch Briefes" if all true details are in the court documents of (Kamp van Zeist) and of me as a witness under oath stated, logs and published. Remains unanswered in this connection to today the question: Why wasn't the FBI up to the 15.Januar informed 1991 (12 months long) about the letter by CIA? h) Gau TIC understands it skillfully to tear fact to its favour from the context or use with getürktem comment for its intentions. For what reasons? … i) In all other respects, I (Bollier) gave at the beginning of of 1991 personally in the Prime Court in Tripoli on all from Gustic of raised fact in this connection information. The day will come at that evidently becomes responsible that Bollier (MEBO) brought all special proofs after 18 year old investigations practically on the table, in order to finally release Libya and Mr.Al Megrahi from the load to, for the LOCK hereditary IE tragedy zusein. by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd., Switzerland

baz said...

A very interesting article on a difficult topic. I am afraid the comments are unintelligible and I wonder if Mr Bollier can actually follow the article.. May I ask what "(unconfirmed AFAIK)" means?

Caustic Logic said...

Thanks, Baz! It had to be done someday by somebody. There are other parts coming up that stay just as weird.

I suspect he's able to catch enough words to realize he knows what I'm talking about, and I'm talking about... (shudder) that. All he's ever done here is tried to sell people to each other.

You're the only person in the world, at least AFAIK, that doesn't know what AFAIK means. I do suppose I should take the time to ... there.
:)

ebol said...

Comment only a compuer/Babilon translation, german /english language:
MISSION LOCKERBIE:

Dear Caustic Logic: Please think professionally: 1 Olypus timer was programmed on Wednesday, time PM 7:30. I removed the batteries, time and timer program was terminated.
I went to Erwin Meister,s office and said to him that a timer was programmed on Wednesday, PM 7:30 hour. Thus I believe, if I had intentions thereby a proof against Libya to produce, I the program at any time again on same day and time to program had been able…
I work only with true facts so I was given by the police this statement.. By the Way, today I believe that the Olypus Timer was programmed by unknown into our company..

in german language:
Bitte denken Sie professionell : 1 Olypus Timer war progranniert auf Wednesday, Time PM 7:30 . Ich entfernte die Batterien, Zeit und Timerprogramm waren beendet. Ich ging zu Erwin Meister,s Büro und sagte ihm, dass ein Timer auf Mittwoch PM 7:30 hour programmiert war. So ich glaube, wenn ich Absichten gehabt hätte damit einen Beweis gegen Libyen zu fabrizieren, hätte ich das Programm jederzeit neu auf den selben Tag und Zeit programmieren können...
Da ich nur mit wahren Fakts arbeite wurde diese Entdeckung von mir so zu Protokoll gegeben wie es dem Tatbestand entspricht. By the way, heute glaube ich, dass der Olypustimer von unbekannt in unsere Firma programmiert wurde.

by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd., Switzerland

Caustic Logic said...

Not too bad English. I'm getting a feel for German's Yoda-like sentence structures.

So, I think you say IF you wanted to frame the Libyans with this timer clue, you could have just re-entered it yourself and left it there. That's an obvious point here - if you showed it to Scots police, they'd think just that. So... that's why you pulled the battery. Bacause, why would you do that, IF you were trying to invent clues? Clever.

"By the Way, today I believe that the Olypus Timer was programmed by unknown into our company.."
"Unknown" sounds like someone different than Senoussi. I suppose a Western agent climbed in the window at Mebo around Dec 23 and did that to trick you?

ebol said...

Attn.Gaustic Logic: Please they do not omit important of fact: The time was programmed, thus on Swiss time 19:30, = english time 18:30. That shows that probably someone programmed unknown the Olympus timer in our company, someone knew that the PanAm 103 at Swiss time 19:03 exploded… sees court excerpt:
Q I see. You also tell us, Mr. Bollier, that having returned from Libya with your timers, that you proceeded to dismantle them.
A That is correct. Yes.
Q All right. You tell us that you had set the time, I think, on these timers to Swiss time. Is that also correct?
A That is correct. Yes.
Q And what time -- I'm sorry, what relation to Greenwich Mean Time would Swiss time bear?
A One hour less, I think.
Q Right.
A It would be GMT 18.30.
Q Now, you tell us that you noticed certain settings on one timer?
A That is correct.
Q And just remind me, please, what settings you say you saw on this one Olympus timer.
A That was one bell. That is to say the timer was programmed.
Q What settings do you say you saw on return from Libya on the 22nd of December 1990 -- 1988, I'm sorry?
A I put them on -- the timers on the table at Customs, and I did not notice that one of the timers had been programmed. I didn't see a bell.

by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd., Switzerland

Rolfe said...

This is an intriguing story which makes absolutely zero sense.

The bit about it that makes least sense to me is the time the timer was supposed to be set for, and how that relates to the flight time of PA103.

We know the allegation was that Megrahi had deliberately tagged the bomb bag for PA103, because the entry on the Erac printout inevitably implies a bag tagged for PA103 going through the system at Frankfurt. So it's not as if the thing was intended for an earlier flight that would have been mid-Atlantic by 7pm GMT.

However, setting a bomb intended for PA103 to explode at 7pm GMT is completely brain-dead, as we've discussed before. "You've got that huge picture window of the wide Atlantic out there, so you aim for the window sill and miss...." There was a fair chance that plane could still have been on the tarmac at 7pm - planes lose their takeoff slots all the time. But even if it had been right up to schedule, there was a very high chance it would still be over land at that time (100% chance on the route the flight actually took). And this bomb was packed round with brand new traceable clothes, purchased only three miles from Luqa airport (where the bomb was allegedly smuggled on so cleverly it was never discovered how this was done), by someone who might as well have been trying to be noticed.

If you have a timer such as the Olympus or MST-13, where you can choose the time, you choose 10pm, or 10.30 or something like that. Bye-bye aeroplane, and bye-bye evidence as well. You don't even have to look at a map to see this.

The MST-13 is a countdown timer. You just say how many hours or minutes or whatever ahead of the present time you want it to go off, and that's that. I don't believe anyone specifically suggested it, but with a timer like that it's always possible someone just goofed and counted three hours too soon.

However, the Olympus is like an old video timer. You set the current day and time, and then you set the day and time you're interested in. So long as you're using the right time zone (and according to Bollier even that wasn't the case), you're not going to make a mistake like that.

The idea that anyone with an electronic timer would deliberately set it to go off at 7pm is simply insane. But that's what this story implies.

If the story is true, I think it's pure coincidence.

Caustic Logic said...

Thanks, Rolfe

However, the Olympus is like an old video timer. You set the current day and time, and then you set the day and time you're interested in. So long as you're using the right time zone (and according to Bollier even that wasn't the case), you're not going to make a mistake like that.

The idea that anyone with an electronic timer would deliberately set it to go off at 7pm is simply insane. But that's what this story implies.

If the story is true, I think it's pure coincidence.


Ah, time zones, hadn't thought of that. Libya and Switzerland are I think one hour ahead of GMT, which 7:03 was in. So if this story and it s apparent sinister implication were both true, it would seem Hinshiri's understanding of the time was 6:30 GMT, just about the same time the luggage container in question was loaded, or just after, with the plane taxiing.

It could be a coincidence, but why would Bollier make this all up only to be a coincidence? ;)