A murky ending to the Air India whodunit

Ottawa: Jacques Shore has heard more than 200 witnesses and spent more than 14 months poring over evidence about the bombing of Air India Flight 182, which exploded off the coast of Ireland 22 years ago.
But Mr. Shore, a lawyer who represents the families of people killed in the attack, says he is haunted by questions that remain unanswered.
None of the testimony at the commission headed by former Supreme Court justice John Major - which wrapped up yesterday afternoon - offered real clues about the identities of those responsible for the act that claimed 329 lives.
"I think the families had hopes in their heart of hearts, really, that some of those mystery individuals who were implicated in this most heinous crime would have come forward," Mr. Shore said in an interview outside the hearing room.
Uncovering the identities of the terrorists who placed the bomb on the plane - and who planted the related device that exploded in the Narita Airport in Japan, killing two baggage handlers - was not part of the mandate handed to Mr. Major.
Instead, his task was to examine, among other things, whether the Canadian government and its officials could have prevented the attack; whether there were deficiencies in the co-operation between the government, CSIS and the RCMP; and whether there are ways to better investigate and prosecute terrorist cases. Mr. Shore and the families held out hope that the evidence would shed some light on the culprits.
To this day, the only person ever convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyat, who pleaded guilty four years ago to manslaughter and was handed a five-year sentence. Two other men, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were found not guilty and released at the end of the costliest trial in Canadian history.
14/12/07 Gloria Galloway/Globe and Mail, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Dec 2007, Foreign Dec 2007, NACIL Dec 2007, Safety Dec 2007