Syria whistleblowers deserve an apology

AGES ago I decided to fight and write on behalf of two brave men who spoke about something which several governments would rather was hushed up.

Both were inspectors at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). They said that a key OPCW report on an alleged poison gas attack in Syria had been doctored. If true, as I believe it to be, this shocking behaviour made the report look as if it justified air raids on Syria, which would otherwise have been breaches of international law.

Not all that long ago, much of the media would have backed these courageous whistleblowers. But Left-wingers, who used to loathe war, have now become strangely keen on it.

A recent BBC programme insinuated that one of these whistleblowers might have acted in hope of getting a financial reward from WikiLeaks. I now have this statement from WikiLeaks: ‘WikiLeaks has never paid, either in kind or in cash, the OPCW whistleblowers. Neither has an OPCW whistleblower ever sought to claim any reward. Any claim made to this effect is false and any insinuation or suggestion to that end is outright propaganda.’

I urge the BBC to put it right.