‘Blair persuaded Bush not to bomb Al-Jazeera’

A BRITISH civil servant has been charged under Britain’s Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking a government memo to a newspaper that suggested Tony Blair persuaded George Bush not to bomb the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.

The Daily Mirror reported Mr Bush spoke of targeting al-Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar, when he met Mr Blair on April 16, 2004. The Bush administration has accused al-Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for anti-US sentiments.

The Daily Mirror attributed its information to unidentified sources. One source, said to be in the government, was quoted as saying that the alleged threat was “humorous, not serious”, but the newspaper quoted another source as saying that “Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair.”