Con Coughlin is a British journalist and author. He is currently the executive foreign editor of the Daily Telegraph and is the author of various non-fiction books relating to the Middle East and the War on Terror.^[1]

He is the son of the Daily Telegraph's former legal affairs correspondent. After his education at public school and Brasenose College, Oxford University, he joined the Daily Telegraph in 1980, and spent time in Beirut, Jerusalem and the United States.^[2][3]

He has held various positions within the Telegraph Group, including Defence and Intelligence Editor and Managing Editor of Sunday Telegraph. He has written for various right wing publications such as the Daily Mail, The Spectator and in America; The New York Sun, Washington Times and National Review, and has had certain articles reprinted in various newspapers around the world. He frequently appears on NBC and CNN as a reporter on the Middle East and Afghanistan.^{citation needed}

Books

Coughlin has written several books on issues relating to the War on Terror, most of which are about the life and era of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein:

• Saddam: The Secret Life (A New York Times bestseller)
• Hostage: Complete Story of the Lebanon Captives
• American Ally: Tony Blair and the War on Terror
• Saddam: His Rise and Fall
• Saddam: King of Terror
• A Golden Basin Full of Scorpions: The Quest for Modern Jerusalem

Criticism

Coughlin has been criticized for writing highly controversial unsubstantiated articles that provide justification for British foreign policy, which have subsequently been proven false.^[4] He has a history of accepting phoney stories from MI6 and then publishing articles in the name of fabricated sources. He has been accused of being a conduit for Black propaganda.^[5]

Libel Scandal

In November 1995 Coughlin, then the Sunday Telegraph's senior correspondent, published an article alleging that Saif Qaddafi was involved in a massive criminal operation involving counterfeit notes and money laundering in Europe based on information received by imaginary British intelligence and banking officials.^[6]

There was a reaction to this article in this British press^{citation needed}, followed by a British court case in 2002, which turned out to be a great scandal for the Telegraph Group.^[3] Allegations on the true origins of that article were first disclosed by Mark Hollingsworth, the biographer of the notorious MI5 whistleblower David Shayler. Shayler working on MI5's Libya desk at the time, in liaison with his counterparts in the foreign espionage service (MI6), had come away with a detailed knowledge of events, including secret documents. Coughlin had falsely attributed the source to a "British banking official", however it had been MI6 officials, who had been supplying Coughlin with material for years.^[7]

The allegations against Coughlin were confirmed when the Sunday Telegraph was served with a libel writ by Saif Qaddafi. The paper was unable to back up its allegations but pleaded, that it had been supplied with the material by a government security agency. In October 28 1998 a statement made by the paper described how, under Charles Moore's editorship, a lunch had been arranged with the then Conservative Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, at which Coughlin had been present. Told by Rifkind that countries such as Iran were trying to get hold of hard currency to beat sanctions, Coughlin was later briefed by an MI6 man - his regular contact. Some weeks later, he was introduced to a second MI6 man, who spent several hours with him and handed over extensive details of the story about Saif Qaddafi. Although Coughlin asked for evidence, and was shown purported bank statements, the pleadings make clear that he was dependent on MI6 for the discreditable details about the alleged counterfeiting scam.^{citation needed}

Throughout the formal pleadings, the Telegraph preserved the full identity of its sources by referring to a "Western government security agency". But this was exposed by solicitor David Hooper in his book on libel Reputations Under Fire, in which he says: "In reality [they were] members of MI6". In 2002 Geoffrey Robertson QC made a statement on behalf of the Telegraph Group stating "there was no truth in the allegation that Saif Qaddafi participated in any currency sting".^[8]

Habbush letter

Main articles: Mohamed Atta's alleged Prague connection and Habbush letter

In late 2003, in a front-page exclusive story, Coughlin revealed a leaked intelligence memorandum, purportedly uncovered by Iraq's interim government, which detailed a meeting between Mohammed Atta, one of the September 11 hijackers, and Iraqi intelligence at the time of Saddam Hussein.^[9][10] The memo was supposedly written by Iraqi security chief General Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti to the president of Iraq. The report was subsequently challenged with American officials also reiterating that there was no such link.^[11]

The Daily Telegraph's exclusive report was picked up and repeated by several conservative columnists in the United States, including syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock^[12] and William Safire.^[13]

False 45 Minute WMD Claim

Coughlin has written about the claim that Iraq's army could access its weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.^[14] This was the same claim, also discredited, that was used in the Iraq Dossier produced by the British intelligence service.

Iran

Coughlin has a been criticized for writing various allegations against Iran, using unknown and untraceable sources, many of which have turned out to be false.^{citation needed} Coughlin has made various allegations in recent years, including that Iran is producing nerve gas and chemical weapons.^{citation needed}

References