Ex-FBI agent in
spotlight at Air-India trial
VANCOUVER, July 16, 2004
By ROBERT MATAS
Globe and Mail
An FBI agent who failed to pass on important information
in the Air-India case could have jeopardized the international investigation
in 1985, acting in ways that were "inconceivable," the court
heard yesterday.
The agent would have broken agency rules, blackened the reputation
of the FBI and compromised FBI relations with RCMP, defence witness
Jack Cloonan, a former top-ranked agent who is now a television commentator
on international terrorism, told the court.
"The agent's core credibility will be at stake. I cannot think,
based on my experience, of a more egregious breach of trust than what
you just described," Mr. Cloonan said.
He made the comments in response to questions by defence lawyer Michael
Code about hypothetical circumstances that appeared to be similar to
the activities of agent Ron Parrish, an important witness for the prosecution.
Mr. Code did not mention Mr. Parrish by name. It was up to the judge
to draw his own conclusions, Mr. Code said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Parrish corroborated the testimony of a U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation informant who said Ajaib Singh Bagri
admitted his involvement in the Air-India disaster during a conversation
a few months after the bombings. Mr. Parrish testified that the informant
told him in September, 1985, about Mr. Bagri's admission.
But Mr. Parrish in 1985 had filed a different account of the informant's
report. He stated at that time the informant said several members of
the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa told him that Vancouver members
of the group were responsible for the crash. Mr. Bagri and others were
identified in the report as members of Babbar Khalsa.
Mr. Parrish testified he did not tell his supervisors that Mr. Bagri
was the source of the information and that Mr. Bagri had admitted his
involvement in the conspiracy. Mr. Parrish also testified he did not
pass the information to the RCMP a few months later, when the RCMP told
the FBI that they were interested in Mr. Bagri. Mr. Parrish said he
altered the source of the information and withheld Mr. Bagri's name
to protect his informant's identity.
Mr. Cloonan, who retired in 2002 after 20 years in the FBI, said yesterday
senior FBI managers would be required to undertake damage control once
they found out that an agent failed to pass on information he had received
about the Air-India disaster.
The FBI would likely call in RCMP representatives in Washington to
inform them of the breach. It may also require the FBI to set up a meeting
with the RCMP in Ottawa, possibly with the commissioner.
Mr. Code asked whether it was conceivable that an informant would provide
a tip to an agent about the Air-India case implicating a suspect and
the agent would not tell anyone.
"I cannot imagine circumstances in which that would happen,"
Mr. Cloonan said. However, he backed away from his critical responses
during cross-examination by prosecutor Richard Cairns, who said the
hypothetical case outlined by Mr. Code was not identical to Mr. Parrish's
circumstances.
Mr. Cloonan agreed with Mr. Cairns that the most important information
-- that the Babbar Khalsa was responsible for the bombing and Mr. Bagri
was a member of the group -- was included in Mr. Parrish's report.
Mr. Cairns suggested it did not matter whether Mr. Bagri or a group
of people were identified as the source of the information. Withholding
the identity of the source has no impact on the value of the intelligence,
Mr. Cairns said.
Mr. Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik are charged with the murder of
331 people in two bombings on June 23, 1985.