An al-Qaeda (AQ) militant suspected of
bombing a luxury hotel and two churches in Pakistan in 2002 was an informer for
MI6, it has been claimed.
Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili was
detained at Guantanamo Bay between 2003 and last year.
The Guardian claims to have seen secret Wikileaks files in which he is described as an
al-Qaeda "assassin".
Other Wikileaks files suggest a mosque
in north London served as a "haven" for Islamic extremists.
According to the files, 35 men held at
Guantanamo Bay had gone to fight against Western forces in Afghanistan after
being indoctrinated in Britain. The US documents identify two preachers at the
Finsbury Park Mosque - Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada - as key recruiters.
Those revelations are contained in a
Daily Telegraph report on separate secret files which suggested London was the hub of a global terror network.
The files, written by US military
commanders, say that by the late 1990s the mosque was attracting young men from
around the world, who were radicalized before being sent to training camps in
Afghanistan.
It said the 35 detainees had passed
through Finsbury Park Mosque as well as other centers such as Regent's Park and
East London mosques and a rented room above a pub near Baker Street.
US intelligence officials said Finsbury
Park served as "an attack planning and propaganda production base"
for AQ.
BBC security correspondent Frank
Gardner said some of the files show MI6 in a very bad light.
He said: "A lot of it doesn't
surprise me... In my view they completely underestimated how dangerous
recruiters and proselytisers like Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza were."
The Guardian says Mr Hamlili was
described in his Guantanamo assessment file as a "facilitator, courier,
kidnapper and assassin for AQ".
US interrogators believed he was also a
British intelligence informer.
But, despite the accusations, he was never brought to trial
and although he was sent back to his native Algeria last year it is not clear
whether he is still in custody.
Wikileaks released the files of 759
Guantanamo detainees.
The files are also claimed to reveal:
·
That the US government suspected
the BBC of being a "possible propaganda media network" for AQ,
because a phone number for a corporation office was found in the possession of
several suspected terrorists, according to the Telegraph. Director of BBC
Global News, Peter Horrocks, has written to the newspaper, pointing out that he "strongly disagrees" with their interpretation
of the files.
·
That AQ had hidden a nuclear weapon
in Europe for detonation should Osama Bin laden be captured
·
That there were attempts by AQ to
recruit workers at London's Heathrow Airport.
Mr Hamlili was captured in Pakistan in
June 2003 and taken to Bagram detention center in Afghanistan where he was
interviewed by the CIA.
The CIA agents were apparently told he
had been an informer for MI6 and the Canadian secret service since 2000.
But the CIA claimed he had
"withheld important information from the Canadian Secret Intelligence
Service and the British Secret Intelligence Service... and to be a threat to US
and allied personnel in Afghanistan and Pakistan".
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has apparently
admitted being the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, allegedly told his
interrogators Mr Hamlili was behind a March 2002 grenade attack on a church in
Islamabad, which killed five people.
Mr Mohammed also alleged Mr Hamlili was
responsible for an attack on a church in Pakistan in December 2002 which killed
three children.
Separate US intelligence reports said
Mr Hamlili was "possibly involved" in a bombing outside Karachi's
Sheraton hotel in May 2002 which killed 11 French engineers and two Pakistani
citizens.
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