Memphis Barker

Senior foreign correspondent at the Telegraph. Ex-foreign editor

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

Scoop: The Green Party member behind the 'Zionism is racism' vote is close friends with an Al Qaeda terrorist.

Approached by the Telegraph, Lubna Speitan defended Mingh Quang Pham, who is serving a 44-year sentence for plotting a suicide bomb attack on Heathrow.

He had planned to target passengers returning from Israel, using shrapnel dipped in rat poison.

In 2015, Ms Speitan offered to testify in Pham's defence in a US court.

Today she said it was "insulting" and a "character assassination" to ask about her relationship with the convicted terrorist, and claimed it was part of a "mainstream media" plot to discredit her.

Read the full story here (gift link) https://t.co/BwjOeBuWMg

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

Great piece from @henrybodkin https://t.co/SxbcI8kWUS

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

@LodhiMaleeha Dear Ms Lodhi, could you follow for a DM? All best, Memphis

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Wtf!

Just arrived in Tel Aviv for coverage ahead of the Israeli elections

Only to be told the Israeli authorities are denying me entry to the country!

Have reported widely on Israel / Palestine for the past 4 years for @Channel4News

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

Hi Saul, thanks for reading and for the kind words. I can DM to explain further, but we had the court documents early on Monday AM (as my emails show) and spent the next 24 hours verifying Ms Speitan's identity. We couldn't run the story immediately, without legally confirming the Green activist with that name was also Ming Pham's "close friend". But thanks again and congratulations for spreading the word about this important story

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

Scoop: The Green Party member behind the 'Zionism is racism' vote is close friends with an Al Qaeda terrorist.

Approached by the Telegraph, Lubna Speitan defended Mingh Quang Pham, who is serving a 44-year sentence for plotting a suicide bomb attack on Heathrow.

He had planned to target passengers returning from Israel, using shrapnel dipped in rat poison.

In 2015, Ms Speitan offered to testify in Pham's defence in a US court.

Today she said it was "insulting" and a "character assassination" to ask about her relationship with the convicted terrorist, and claimed it was part of a "mainstream media" plot to discredit her.

Read the full story here (gift link) https://t.co/BwjOeBuWMg

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

@andree_frieze Dear Andree could you follow for a DM?

[Janet Eastham @JanetEastham]

@memphisbarker its hitting home over on r/ukgreens

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

Scoop: The Green Party member behind the 'Zionism is racism' vote is close friends with an Al Qaeda terrorist.

Approached by the Telegraph, Lubna Speitan defended Mingh Quang Pham, who is serving a 44-year sentence for plotting a suicide bomb attack on Heathrow.

He had planned to target passengers returning from Israel, using shrapnel dipped in rat poison.

In 2015, Ms Speitan offered to testify in Pham's defence in a US court.

Today she said it was "insulting" and a "character assassination" to ask about her relationship with the convicted terrorist, and claimed it was part of a "mainstream media" plot to discredit her.

Read the full story here (gift link) https://t.co/BwjOeBuWMg

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

The Green Party has issued an updated statement suggesting - but not confirming - that Ms Speitan faces an internal investigation.

A spokesperson told the Telegraph:

"Lubna Speitan holds no party positions other than being a member. The Green Party takes all allegations of this nature seriously. Where members have expressed views that do not fit in with the party’s values, we have internal processes to investigate."

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

@skedeschi Followed

[teresa smith @treesey]

“Minh Quang Pham [was] jailed in the US for a plot to detonate a backpack filled with shrapnel dipped in rat poison in the airport arrivals lounge. Court documents from 2015 described them as “close friends”. Asked whether they remained friends, Ms Speitan said: “Yes…”

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

@fharris2011 @genevieve_holl We published just before they did and have comment from Ms Speitan. But the JC has it's own exclusive material including a letter she wrote in Pham's defence.

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

@janeprinsley @genevieve_holl !!

[Genevieve Holl-Allen @genevieve_holl]

Huge exclusive from @memphisbarker

The Green Party member behind the “Zionism is racism” motion is close friends with an al-Qaeda terrorist who plotted to bomb passengers landing at Heathrow from Israel

https://t.co/KIcBgmN7H4

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

@JohnLStrickland Hi John could you follow for a DM? Best

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

Robert 'Magyar' Brovdi's view on British drone plans - eep! Taken from @antonialford's wide-ranging, fun and also quite terrifying interview with the legendary USF commander https://t.co/MGTCdPrJ79

[Antonia Langford @antonialford]

Here is the full video version of our interview with Magyar: https://t.co/J5pUXtg4mI

Brilliantly done by Edward Matthews, @jleather and Josh Bourne, with translation by @makohonatalia

[Memphis Barker @memphisbarker]

Fascinating story from @VerityBowman, who has spoken to Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps about a new tactic on display in 'Operation Vivaldi' -- dropping UGVs behind enemy lines https://t.co/pylRBx6tVn