Britain uses coercion to recruit Muslim 'spies'

[joeblow]

Britain uses coercion to recruit Muslim 'spies'
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:33:27 GMT

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=1 ... =351020601



A file photo shows the Muslim faithful gathering for prayer at the London Central Mosque.

Amid stepped up security following the bombing attempt in the US, Britain's Security Service, the MI5, faces accusations of trying to force vulnerable Muslim citizens into espionage.

A report by the British daily The Independent criticized the spy agency on Tuesday for tactics bordering on blackmail and harassment and targeting helpless Muslims.

The paper cites the cases of two Somali immigrants to Britain, whom detail a series of threatening encounters with MI5 agents. It also hints at a pattern of such harassments targeting Somali nationals, citing five similar claims made in 2009.

The United Sates and Britain have been pushing for more UN intervention to tackle what they call an emerging terrorist threat in Somalia, in wake of a failed attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound plane from Nigeria and a similar attack launched from Somalia.

The security service, however, has intensified its covert operations against Britain's Somali and Yemeni communities since 2008 over concerns that UK citizens are being recruited by 'al-Qaeda' terrorist organization.

Isahaq Elmi, 31, who complains of having received at least 200 phone calls, is a man who sought refuge in Britain from certain persecution in Africa where members of his family were murdered.

Elmi says he was also tricked into attending meetings at police stations in Birmingham amid measures to coerce him into working for the security service.

Ahmed Diini, a Dutch citizen of Somali origin who has settled in Britain, said harassments did not stop at threatening phone calls and visits by agents to his place of work — a school in Birmingham — and that he was twice detained at UK airports while trying to go on holiday.

The 21-year-old alleges that men who claimed to be MI5 agents tried to put pressure on him with threats of detention under the Terrorism Act.

British Muslim groups have slammed the "alienating" and heavy-handed tactics, as well as casting doubt on the quality and reliability of a forced spying operation.

The attempt to blow up a US-bound airliner by a Nigerian man who spent time in Yemen and a suspected similar attack launched from Somalia has increased MI5's interest in British residents with links to both states.

"I came here in 2000 after my family and business were targeted by extremists operating in Mogadishu. I thought I was safe after I was granted asylum in 2006 but since the visits and phone calls from MI5 my life has fallen apart," The Independent quoted Elmi as saying on Monday.

"I told them that I didn't want to work for them by spying on my community. I said if they need informers they should go to the job centers and find work for people who have lost jobs in the recession - but I already have a job," Elmi added.

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