"Al Qaeda" cleric exposed as double agent for british MI5

[Terran1212]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-3-1050175,00.html

Al-Qaeda cleric exposed as an MI5 double agent
By Daniel McGrory and Richard Ford
Allies say warnings were ignored





ONE of al-Qaeda’s most dangerous figures has been revealed as a double agent working for MI5, raising criticism from European governments, which repeatedly called for his arrest.

Britain ignored warnings — which began before the September 11 attacks — from half a dozen friendly governments about Abu Qatada’s links with terrorist groups and refused to arrest him. Intelligence chiefs hid from European allies their intention to use the cleric as a key informer against Islamic militants in Britain.

Abu Qatada boasted to MI5 that he could prevent terrorist attacks and offered to expose dangerous extremists, while all along he was setting up a haven for his terror organisation in Britain.

Among the scores of young militants who came to visit him in London was the chief suspect in the Madrid train bombings. His followers also included people who wanted to be suicide bombers for al-Qaeda, such as Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.




More at link

[BlueEyedSon]

1. yeah, right... next they'll be tell us that UBL was one of ours.....

[frylock]

2. that's preposterous!!!

:spray:

[Wilms]

5. UBL is one of ours. n/t

[BlueEyedSon]

7. whoops!

[ret5hd]

3. hmmmm...so cointelpro takes a new twist.

[Terran1212]

4. I myself was part of simulation for Homeland Security

Where agents dressed up as interns, pedestrians, and other public figures.

Of course, the fiery Al Qaeda cleric is a new one to me.

And probably to my sister, who works with homeland security weekly (she's an intern).

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. It's a very misleading headline

If you read the full story (not sure if you can - The Times has in the past been unavailable without a subscription outside the UK), you find that MI5 had talked to him, and he'd promised them he'd report anyone planning terrorism. But he didn't, the article says, he recruited people for terrorism.

The Times is calling that being a 'double agent'. I wouldn't - a double agent feeds bad information to a side that thinks he's working for them, and/or tells his real masters the inside secrets of their opposing organisation. Neither happened in this case.