London – Two former government employees were convicted Wednesday of violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act for leaking a transcript of a White House conversation between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush, which prosecutors said could have jeopardized British soldiers’ lives.
Former civil servant David Keogh, 50, and former parliamentary researcher Leo O’Connor, 44, were found guilty of leaking a memo.
British news organizations said the memo recounted an April 2004 conversation in which Bush referred to bombing the headquarters of al-Jazeera television network.
U.S. officials called the report “outlandish and inconceivable.”
The transcript was heard behind closed doors by Judge Rich ard Aikens, who ordered that it remain confidential.
During the trial, Blair foreign policy adviser Nigel Sheinwald testified the document contained “highly sensitive” material. The leak could “seriously damage relations with friendly governments” and threaten “operational effectiveness of the security of U.K. or allied forces.”
Keogh testified that he had been asked to make copies of the memo for high-ranking British officials.
Keogh said he had an “unfavorable” opinion of Bush, so he arranged to pass the document to O’Connor, who worked for a member of Parliament who opposed the war.
Keogh said he did not intend to jeopardize British defense or international relations. He said he did it to cause embarrassment for Bush and he hoped it would spark debate in Parliament and in the United States.
O’Connor said he was “fearful” when he saw the contents of the memo and did not intend for them to become public when he passed them to his former boss, Anthony Clarke.
Clarke said he returned the document to Blair’s office when he realized it was confidential.
