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Al Qaeda may have infiltrated UK spy body
* Anti-terror body head asks govt to ensure vetting process is as tight as possible
LONDON: The head of a British parliamentary counter-terrorism committee called on the government to clarify whether Al Qaeda operatives had tried to infiltrate the MI5 domestic security agency.
Patrick Mercer, an opposition Conservative and chairman of parliaments sub-committee on counter-terrorism, said on Saturday he had been told up to six Muslim recruits had been ejected from the spy agency because of concerns about their backgrounds.
Two of the men who had attempted to join MI5 after the July 7, 2005 London suicide bombings had attended training camps in Pakistan while the others had unexplained gaps in their curricula vitae, Mercer told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
I would be very, very surprised had our enemies not tried this but I would like some clarification from the government to see how successful weve been at detecting them, he told Sky News.
Vetting process: Mercer said he wanted British Home Secretary Alan Johnson to detail how far down the recruitment process the men had got before they were weeded out, and to ensure the vetting process was as tight as possible.
The Home Office made no comment about Mercers allegations, however an unnamed senior security source told the Telegraph no one had been asked to leave the spy agency after starting work or training because they had been linked to extremists.
MI5 significantly increased in size after the 2005 bombings by four young British terrorists, a process Mercer said should have started much sooner after the September 11 US attacks. Of course they (MI5) should be attracting recruits from all sorts of backgrounds, he told Sky. The fact remains it is not without risk. A subversive organisation worth its salt will of course try to infiltrate. reuters
* Anti-terror body head asks govt to ensure vetting process is as tight as possible
LONDON: The head of a British parliamentary counter-terrorism committee called on the government to clarify whether Al Qaeda operatives had tried to infiltrate the MI5 domestic security agency.
Patrick Mercer, an opposition Conservative and chairman of parliaments sub-committee on counter-terrorism, said on Saturday he had been told up to six Muslim recruits had been ejected from the spy agency because of concerns about their backgrounds.
Two of the men who had attempted to join MI5 after the July 7, 2005 London suicide bombings had attended training camps in Pakistan while the others had unexplained gaps in their curricula vitae, Mercer told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
I would be very, very surprised had our enemies not tried this but I would like some clarification from the government to see how successful weve been at detecting them, he told Sky News.
Vetting process: Mercer said he wanted British Home Secretary Alan Johnson to detail how far down the recruitment process the men had got before they were weeded out, and to ensure the vetting process was as tight as possible.
The Home Office made no comment about Mercers allegations, however an unnamed senior security source told the Telegraph no one had been asked to leave the spy agency after starting work or training because they had been linked to extremists.
MI5 significantly increased in size after the 2005 bombings by four young British terrorists, a process Mercer said should have started much sooner after the September 11 US attacks. Of course they (MI5) should be attracting recruits from all sorts of backgrounds, he told Sky. The fact remains it is not without risk. A subversive organisation worth its salt will of course try to infiltrate. reuters
