UK Defence Secretary John Healey has called for an investigation into whether convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women and girls into the United Kingdom on private jets that landed at Royal Air Force (RAF) bases.
British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Thursday that Healey ordered officials to search through two decades of Ministry of Defence files and "leave no stone unturned" in hunting for links between the late paedophile's private jet and RAF facilities.
The investigation launched by Healey comes days after former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged police to probe whether former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor used taxpayer-funded jet travel and RAF bases to meet with Epstein.
The Telegraph reported that Brown was particularly concerned about a private flight Epstein took on a Gulfstream jet that landed at an airbase in Norfolk in December 2000, before visiting the royal retreat of Sandringham with Mountbatten-Windsor.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last week over alleged misconduct in public office while serving as UK trade envoy for reportedly sending confidential government documents to Epstein.
The UK's Intelligence and Security Committee said on Thursday it hopes to soon publish documents shedding light on how political insider Peter Mandelson was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as ambassador to the United States despite his longtime ties to Epstein.
A committee spokesperson stated: "We are proceeding at pace to publish the first tranche of documents in early March."
Mandelson, 72, was briefly arrested and then released by London's Metropolitan Police as part of their investigation.
While Prime Minister Starmer fired Mandelson as ambassador last year following further revelations about his relationship with Epstein, the British leader faces political fallout as questions remain over his initial decision to appoint him.
The European Union's anti-fraud office OLAF also said on Thursday it was examining Mandelson's actions while serving in Brussels as British trade commissioner between 2004 and 2008, following a request from the European Commission.
Source: www.aljazeera.com