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Britain and Gaddafi ran al-Qaeda trap in Europe
MI6 and Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan intelligence service set up a radical mosque in a western European city to lure al-Qaeda terrorists, London's Sunday Telegraph has revealed.The operation, which had the potential to backfire if a terrorist cell launched an attack from the location, was run behind the backs of Western allies in the chosen city. The joint operation, undertaken as Britain attempted to secure a deal with Colonel Gaddafi to reopen diplomatic relations, shows how closely Britain's Secret Intelligence Service was prepared to work with his regime's spies, despite allegations of human rights abuses. At the time, Britain was encouraging Colonel Gaddafi to give up plans for weapons of mass destruction. Four months later, the dictator and Tony Blair, then British prime minister, struck the 2004 ''deal in the desert'', which ended Libya's pariah status. The co-operation extended to recruiting an agent to infiltrate an al-Qaeda cell in the European city, which cannot be named for security reasons. The double agent, code-named Joseph, was closely connected to a senior al-Qaeda commander in Iraq and had been identified as a possible spy by the ESO, Libya's external intelligence service. MI6 began recruiting the agent without telling its allies in the European country where he lived. The agency agreed on a narrative with the agent and the ESO to fool their allies about his recruitment. Documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph outline the subterfuge. The papers were left in Tripoli as Colonel Gaddafi's regime crumbled. Posted by: tipper 2012-04-22 |
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