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.