FOUR asylum seekers have been granted the right to remain in Scotland despite accusations that they were al-Qaeda terrorists. The Algerians, who were arrested in Edinburgh and Glasgow two years ago as part of a UK-wide police operation, were given permission to remain in this country after their lawyer argued the terror claims would put their lives at risk if they were deported. The four were part of a nine-strong group of suspects who police believed were linked to an al-Qaeda network that had cells throughout the UK and Europe.The £1.5m operation, led by Lothian and Borders Police, led to the arrest of eight Algerians in December 2002 and a ninth suspect in February 2003. They were subsequently charged under section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The charges against them were dropped a year later, but the Crown Office kept its files on the case open. Their asylum applications continued. The first four cases to go before immigration officials in Glasgow earlier this year were successful, meaning it is highly likely that the remaining men, who will also argue that they face torture or death in Algeria because of their arrests, will also be granted leave to remain in the UK.
The four men already given leave to remain are Abdellah Abdelhafid, Karim Benamghar, Fouad Lasnami and Salah Moullef. The court stopped short of granting them permanent asylum. But it gave them permission to stay in the UK for the next three years after their human rights lawyer, Aamer Anwar - of Glasgow-based Beltrami Berlow solicitors - argued that they faced torture and death if deported because the accusations that they were terrorists had been shared between British and Algerian security services. The men can reapply for asylum in 2008. Last night, Anwar said the men were the innocent victims of bogus intelligence who were now trying to rebuild their lives. He said: "Their lives are still in limbo. Some have been given leave to remain, but that will only be for the next three years - then they have to apply for asylum again. The rest are still waiting to hear. "For those who have been successful, it has been the end of a long battle for them, but they just want to get on with their lives and get jobs. Anwar added: "They have been through absolute hell. These men are traumatised. They have been abused in public by people who recognised them. They have had to move house. They are paranoid and scared to go to sleep at night in case there's a knock on the door. And they don't understand why they were accused of being members of al-Qaeda. Life is difficult when you have been through that. "But they have remained in Scotland because this is where they have been for years and they wanted to stay here. I think they have real courage."
But police yesterday insisted they had been right to arrest the men, whom they suspected of planning possible future operations. Sources have told Scotland on Sunday they believe the men were fundraising and had raised tens of thousands of pounds, and had so many false identities it took officers some time to work out what their real names actually were. A senior intelligence source said: "The group arrested in Scotland were connected to other groups in the UK and Europe, and they shared one thing in common - most were failed asylum seekers who had gone underground. We had intelligence that they were connected to other groups."
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the think-tank Migrationwatch, said: "It's important not to exaggerate the security risk arising from asylum, but it is a fact that of the 717 people detained under terror laws since September 11, a total of 182 have applied for asylum, and of them 16 applied after their arrest. This clearly indicates that the asylum system is being used by a number, however small, of people who are later suspected of terror connections."