British spies ‘tried to recruit’ London attacker
UK: Britain’s intelligence agencies came under fresh scrutiny
on Saturday over claims that MI5 tried to recruit one of two Islamists
accused of butchering a soldier in London.
Abu Nusaybah, who says he is a childhood friend of murder suspect
Michael Adebolajo, was arrested by counter-terrorism police shortly
after making the claims on BBC television on Friday night.
He claimed that Adebolajo, one of two men in custody for killing
25-year-old Lee Rigby outside a military barracks on Wednesday
afternoon, was approached by MI5 agents after returning from Kenya.
Media reports have said Adebolajo had attempted to travel to Somalia
to fight alongside Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents but had been turned
back and had his passport confiscated by police.
Nusaybah said his 28-year-old friend was changed by his trip to the
east African country, where he claimed to have been physically and
sexually abused by local security forces during questioning.
On his return Adebolajo was “basically being harassed by MI5, this is
something that he specifically mentioned to me” when they spoke six
months ago, Abu Nusaybah told the BBC.
He added: “They asked him whether he would be interested in working
for them. He was explicit in that he refused to work for them but he did
confirm that he didn’t know the individuals.” Adebolajo and Michael
Adebowale, 22, remain under armed guard in separate hospitals after
being shot by police during their arrest at the scene of the grisly
murder in Woolwich, southeast London.
They are reportedly not in a fit state to be interviewed, but their
Islamist tirades to passersby at the scene have sparked fears of a
backlash against Britain’s Muslim community.
There has been an increase in anti-Muslim incidents following the
attack, according to the director of Faith Matters, an organisation
which works to reduce extremism.
Fiyaz Mughal said that before the murder, about four to eight cases a
day were reported to its helpline. It had recorded about 150 incidents
in the last few days, from right across Britain.
“Some of them are quite aggressive, very focused, very aggressive
attacks,” he told BBC radio.
Fears of violence at a march by the anti-Islam English Defence League
later on Saturday has seen the deployment of hundreds of extra police on
the streets of Newcastle in northeastern England.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of posting racist tweets
before the protest, which will take place at the same time as a march by
opponents of the EDL, Northumbria Police said.
Both murder suspects were known to the intelligence services and
Adebolajo had links to the banned radical Al-Muhajiroun movement, but
reports suggest they were not viewed as a deadly threat.
Abu Nusaybah claimed that MI5 called at Adebolajo’s home several
times following his return from Kenya asking for information about
certain individuals before suggesting that he work for them.
The BBC said that after the interview, Abu Nusaybah, a Muslim, left
the television studio to find officers from Scotland Yard’s
counter-terrorism unit waiting to arrest him.
The police force later confirmed that a 31-year-old man had been
arrested in London on suspicion of the “commission, preparation or
instigation of acts of terrorism”.
AFP
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