BBC gab fest taking place as Norman Kember is 'freed'. I've never bothered to talk about him as he didn't seem too important, but look at these guys gush.

However, I notice now the ambiguity of the word 'freed'. It does seem to me that that word 'rescued' seems more appropriate.

Certainly I do not think we should be hearing from the latest terrorist celebrity, Moazzam Begg. If not a terrorist, this man consorted with them, and now the BBC is allowing some spurious and evidently inconsequential words he used to advocate Kember's release in December as a justification for his rehabilitation into an acceptable face of Islamic extremism.

'Moazzam Begg, who publicly pleaded for the release of Mr Kember in December, said he was "ecstatic" at the news.

He said: "I am extremely pleased. I am very, very happy and hope to meet him soon after he gets back here.

"I am a little concerned about the military operation and hope that nobody was hurt during that.

"It is the best news to come out of Iraq in a long time.

"I just know the experience of being kept away from your home for such a long time. He needs time to recover and I hope that everybody gives him that." '

heh- "I am a little concerned about the military operation and hope that nobody was hurt during that." - wouldn't want any of his friends harmed during the 'freeing' of infidels, would he?

Interesting stuff from the DT on Begg here. For the BBC to use Begg as a quotable source on the Kember matter implies a firm assumption about Guantanamo and US interrogation procedures. That's no surprise, but sometimes media judgements become foundational, and treating Begg as a quotable source is one such.



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