The Independent reports that Peter Mandelson failed security vetting for a US ambassador role because of associations with China, Russia, and Israel. Security services recommended denying clearance based on links to China’s finance minister Lan Fo’an, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, and former Israeli military intelligence general Tamir Hayman. The decision to deny clearance was overridden by the Foreign Office, and Mandelson was appointed. The report says concerns included Mandelson retaining Russian business links after Russia’s 2014 actions in Crimea and before the full-scale invasion in 2022. The revelations are tied to tensions over delays in publishing papers related to the appointment.
"Security services said the disgraced Labour peer should be denied clearance for the top Washington role because of his associations with China's minister of finance, Lan Fo'an, the sanctions-hit Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and a former Israeli military intelligence general, Tamir Hayman, sources told The Independent. But the decision was overridden by the Foreign Office, and he was appointed regardless."
"Of particular concern was the fact that Lord Mandelson retained his Russian business links well after Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Crimea, the first offensive action against Ukraine in 2014, before the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The latest revelations, first revealed by The Guardian, come amid growing tensions over delays to the publication of the latest tranche of papers relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson to the UK's most important diplomatic role."
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Read at www.independent.co.uk
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