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any substantive comment. I further recommend that the MPs involved
should be informed of our response, and advised to respond in
similar terms or to refrain from responding. The letter to
Sir J Coles deals with matters not specifically connected with the
FCO, and Mr Cahill has sent identical letters to Home Office
officials; I therefore recommend that this letter be referred to
the Home Office for reply.
3 I submit: a draft of the reply to be sent by this department to
and Mr. Ondlow; Mr Cahill; draft
draft letter from Lord Caithness to Mr Renton; draft Private Secretary letters to Sir G Howe, PS/Lord Belstead,
PS/No 10 (covering a draft PS/No 10 letter to Mrs Thatcher's Private
Office), Sir P Cradock and Sir A Acland. SEAD will inform the other
officials involved of our action when it has been cleared.
A
B
C
4
HKD, Legal Advisers and Home Office concur.
Background
5 Lorrain Osman, a Malaysian businessman, has been detained in the
UK since December 1985 pending extradition to Hong Kong to face.
charges of fraud. Osman, a trained lawyer, has delayed extradition by his extensive use of the appeals procedure.
Five
applications for a writ of habeas corpus have been refused, and a
sixth is pending; Osman has also made two unsuccessful applications
to the European Commission of Human Rights. A background note by
the Home Office, which summarises the full history, is attached.
6 We first became aware of Mr Cahill's interest in the case when he
wrote to Sir Arthur Watts on 30 March, alleging corruption in the
FCO and making it clear that he was in possession of a confidential
telegram on the case (Hong Kong telno 2874 of 20 December 1985), which he claimed substantiated his allegation. Sir J Coles
replied on 30 April, refuting Cahill's allegation of corruption and pointing out that the telegram was considered by the Divisional
Court in the course of Osman's fourth habeas corpus application. Sir J Coles also stated that the document was privileged, and had been released to the court under a Public Interest Immunity Certificate; if Mr Cahill made any improper use of the telegram, the
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