Investigative reporter Mazher Mahmood was recalled to the Leveson Inquiry today and quizzed over the reasons for his 1989 departure from the Sunday Times.<\/p>\n
Mahmood, also known as the Fake Sheikh for the disguise he wears while investigating, told the Inquiry in December that he and then managing editor (news) Roy Greenslade had “had a disagreement”.<\/p>\n
In a blog post<\/a> written after Mahmood’s first appearance at the Inquiry, Greenslade wrote that Mahmood had “falsely blamed the news agency and then tried to back up his version of events by entering the room containing the main frame computer in order to alter the original copy.”<\/p>\n Having been found out, Greenslade wrote, Mahmood “rightly understood that he would have been dismissed” and so wrote a letter of resignation.<\/p>\n Mahmood, who returned to the Sunday Times last autumn after the News of the World closed in July 2011,\u00a0regretfully admitted<\/a>\u00a0today that he “foolishly” tried to blame the news agency for his mistake.<\/p>\n He added later that\u00a0a\u00a0recent claim<\/a>\u00a0made by former Sunday Times news editor Michael Williams that Mahmood had offered a financial bribe to\u00a0staff in the newspaper computer room to falsify his copy was “completely untrue”.<\/p>\n Mahmood told the Inquiry that\u00a0Greenslade has since been “very critical” of his investigations: “Ever since he has displayed obsessive hostility towards me. There were run-ins over several stories.”<\/p>\n Tuning into the Inquiry, Greenslade tweeted:<\/p>\n Mahmood #Leveson<\/a> Continues to say I had disagreements with him at Sunday Times – Can’t remember one. Treated him same as other reporters<\/p>\n \u2014 Roy Greenslade (@GreensladeR) January 25, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n