Summary
THE REVELATIONS that have followed the ending of the trial of the British Muslims who sought to blow up the Bluewater shopping centre have been profoundly disturbing in what they tell us about the gaps in MI5's security operations before the London bombings. The news that two men alleged to have links to the plotters are at large and, it is thought, living in Britain, also raises questions. According to evidence brought before the Old Bailey jury in the trial, Mohammed Quayyum Khan, a part-time taxi driver from Luton, was one of the intermediaries between al Qaeda and the plotters and indeed, was an emir, or leader, of the group. Police have uncovered insufficient evidence to arrest him, though his home was searched at least once. The court also heard that Zeeshan Siddiqui was meant to have launched a suicide attack on the Underground, having formerly worked on the Tube. He has since disappeared.
These men have not been charged with any offence, but what the allegations during the trial do suggest, as is powerfully confirmed by the evidence about the plotters themselves and the background of the 7/7 bombers, is the extent to which Pakistan, and its al Qaeda training camps, is the common link between British Muslims who wanted to attack targets back home in Britain. As Martin Bright makes clear in his analysis opposite, it is this failure to identify British Muslims as the security problem which was the culpable error on the part of the security services prior to 7/7. It was understandable that MI5 should focus on extremists from outside Britain, including Algeria and Syria plainly, they did and do pose a real threat but this does not excuse the failure to focus on the enemy within, a failure that may have political causes, as well as the fact that the security services cannot follow every single lead.See the full content of this document
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Crack Down On the Hate Preachers
What all this does do is rein...
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