MI5 Investigated Texas Synagogue Hostage-taker in 2020

THE GUARDIAN: UK intelligence concluded Malik Faisal Akram posed no threat, which allowed him to travel to US and buy gun

The British man who took hostages at a Texas synagogue had been under investigation by MI5 as a possible Islamist terrorist threat as recently as 2020, Whitehall sources have acknowledged.

British intelligence closed the investigation, however, after officers had concluded Malik Faisal Akram from Blackburn posed no threat, and as a result he was able to travel freely to the US and purchase a gun.

It is understood the investigation was “mid-level” and took place in the second half of 2020 – but once it had ended Akram was left as a closed subject of interest on MI5’s records, and no information of concern appears to have been passed to the US authorities before the synagogue attack.

The Security Service’s investigation lasted “over four weeks”, a source said. But it ended with an assessment that Akram did not pose a jihadist terror risk and there was no reason to prevent him from travelling abroad.

The acknowledgment is a particular embarrassment to the agency, which prides itself on a close working relationship with its US counterparts. The FBI has known about MI5’s previous investigation for some time, although British sources declined to say whether they had apologised.

Akram, a 44-year-old from Blackburn, was killed after an 11-hour hostage standoff at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville on Saturday evening. All four hostages survived the siege unharmed. » | Dan Sabbagh | Tuesday, January 18, 2022

The Hostages Escaped. But Synagogues Ask, How Can They Be More Secure? »

Far Right Extremist Group Britain First Threatens to Arrest Islamist Cleric Anjem Choudary

THE INDEPENDENT: The creator of a far right extremist group that has promised to ‘arrest’ Islamist cleric Anjem Choudary by 6pm tomorrow if the Met police do not is a Belfast-based anti-abortion militant with close links to paramilitary groups.

Jim Dowson founded Britain First in 2011 as a rival to the British National Party after several senior members of the BNP fell out with its leader Nick Griffin. Dowson is currently on bail awaiting trial in Northern Ireland for his alleged role in helping to organise many of the recent Union flag protests at Belfast City Hall. » | Paul Gallagher | Tuesday, May 28, 2013

MAIL ONLINE: MI5 to Investigate Anjem Choudary »

Arab Spring Provided New Breeding Ground for British Terrorists – Spy Chief
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Arab Spring has spawned a new generation of British-born terrorists after al-Qaeda lured dozens of would-be bombers abroad to train for possible attacks on the UK, the head of MI5 warned.

Jonathan Evans said the terror network has taken advantage of the unstable region, in the wake of last year’s revolutions, to spread its influence and create new bases for attacks.

British would-be jihadis are known to be receiving training in the likes of Libya and Egypt, mirroring what has already happened in the Yemen and Somalia.

And they could return to attack the UK in what is a “new and worrying development”, he said.

Mr Evans, the Director General of MI5, warned of the emerging threats in a rare speech, his first in almost two years. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Tuesday, June 25, 2012

Scotland Yard Investigates Political Assassination as Fears Rise of Karachi Gang Violence Spreading
THE TELEGRAPH: Scotland Yard counter-terrorism police have been called in to lead the murder inquiry into the London killing of a Pakistani politician after officials warned a bloody struggle between political factions in Karachi was on its way to Britain.

Pakistani Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Secretary-General Imran Farooq. Photograph: The Telegraph
Security sources told the Daily Telegraph the murder inquiry into the death of Imran Farooq, a founder member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), had been taken over by Scotland Yard's Counter-Terrorism Command which investigates political assassinations. MI5 is also likely to be called in to help with the hunt for the killers.

Scotland Yard last night appealed for witnesses to the crime.

Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, was in lockdown following the murder of Dr Farooq, who had lived in the UK since claiming asylum in 1999.

Hundreds of deaths of loyalists from rival political and ethnic gang have been recorded this year in a murky corruption and racketeering turf war.

"This has been going on here for years and it's not a surprise to see something happen in London," said a senior counter-terrorism official in Karachi, speaking on condition of anonymity. "These networks extend a long way and are very well developed." >>> Duncan Gardham and Rob Crilly in Islamabad | Friday, September 17, 2010

If something isn't done about the growth of multi-cultural Britain, it won't just be Heathrow that resembles the Third World, the whole country will! The liberal élite will then have a hell of a lot to answer for. – © Mark

Iraq Inquiry: Saddam Posed Very Limited Threat to UK, Ex-MI5 Chief Says
THE GUARDIAN: Eliza Manningham-Buller tells Chilcot inquiry that Iraq invasion radicalised part of a generation of Muslims

Eliza Manningham-Buller. Photo: The Guardian
The former MI5 director general Eliza Manningham-Buller today delivered a withering assessment of the case for war against Iraq.

Manningham-Buller said the threat posed by Saddam Hussein was low and that the US-led invasion in 2003 had done more harm than good.

Giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, she said Saddam's threat to the UK was "very limited and containable".

In evidence that undermined the case for war presented by the former prime minister Tony Blair, she was asked whether it was feared Saddam could have linked terrorists to weapons of mass destruction, facilitating their use against the west.

"It certainly wasn't of concern in either the short term or the medium term to me or my colleagues," she replied.

Manningham-Buller said the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan had radicalised parts of a generation of Muslims who saw the military actions as an "attack on Islam". >>> Haroon Siddique | Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Spy Chief: We Risk a Police State
THE TELEGRAPH: Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

Dame Stella accused ministers of interfering with people’s privacy and playing straight into the hands of terrorists.

“Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people’s privacy,” Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

“It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state,” she said. >>> By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Media Censorship On the Way
THE INDEPENDENT: Britain's security agencies and police would be given unprecedented and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall.

The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories deemed by the Government to be against the interests of national security.

The committee also wants to censor reporting of police operations that are deemed to have implications for national security.

The ISC is to recommend in its next report, out at the end of the year, that a commission be set up to look into its plans, according to senior Whitehall sources.

The ISC holds huge clout within Whitehall. It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy. Kim Howells, a respected former Foreign Office minister, was recently appointed its chairman.

Under the existing voluntary code of conduct, known as the DA-Notice system, the Government can request that the media does not report a story. However, the committee's members are particularly worried about leaks, which, they believe, could derail investigations and the reporting of which needs to be banned by legislation.

Civil liberties groups say these restrictions would be "very dangerous" and "damaging for public accountability". They also point out that censoring journalists when the leaks come from officials is unjustified. MPs Seek to Censor the Media >>> Exclusive by Kim Sengupta | November 10, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Media Could Face Reporting Ban on Issues of National Security

Plans for the security services and police to be given new legally-binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security are being drawn up, it was claimed today.

The proposal is said to feature in a report due before the end of the year from the cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee, parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies.

According to The Independent newspaper, unnamed sources at Whitehall say that the ISC will urge ministers to set up a commission to look into the proposal.

The ISC is appointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and reports directly to him.

Its membership is made up of long-standing and trusted members of the major parties and it is chaired by former Foreign Office minister Kim Howells.

It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy.

The existing DA-Notice system is operated on a voluntary basis and overseen by the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (DPBAC), which brings together officials and representatives of the media.

Under this code of conduct, the Government can request that the media does not report a story which could compromise UK military and intelligence operations or lead to attacks that would damage the critical national infrastructure or endanger lives. >>> By Charlotte Bailey | November 10, 2008

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Report Identifies UK Terrorist Enclaves
THE TELEGRAPH: Secret enclaves of al-Qaeda extremists based in London, Birmingham and Luton are planning mass-casualty attacks in Britain, according to a leaked Government intelligence report.

The document, which was drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defence, MI5 and Special Branch, states that "some thousands" of extremists are active in the UK. They are predominantly UK-born and aged between 18 and 30, and many are believed to have been trained in overseas terrorist camps.

Under the heading "International Terrorism", the report, which is marked "restricted" states: "For the foreseeable future the UK will continue to be a high-priority target for international terrorists aligned with al-Qaeda.

It will face a threat from British nationals, including Muslim converts, and UK-based foreign terrorists, as well as terrorists planning attacks from abroad."

The report states that the threat from the Islamist extremist community in the UK is "diverse and widely distributed" but adds that the numbers of terrorist in Britain is "difficult to judge".

The document does state, however, that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which is based in MI5's headquarters at Thames House in London, estimates that there are "some thousands of extremists in the UK committed to supporting Jihadi activities, either in the UK or abroad". >>> By Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent | November 8, 2008

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British Spies Urged to Come Out of the Closet
TIMESONLINE: The intelligence service MI5 has teamed up with Britain’s leading gay lobby group to recruit more homosexuals and to encourage spies to be open about their sexuality.

MI5, which targets home-grown terrorists and foreign spies, has hired Stonewall to advise on how it can attract a broader range of applicants.

Until the early 1990s gays were barred from sensitive government jobs because of fears that they would be vulnerable to blackmail. The ban followed revelations about the notorious Cambridge spy ring, the 1950s group of Cambridge graduates who worked in the intelligence service. Two of the ringleaders, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, were both gay.

This year MI5 will appear in Stonewall’s graduate recruitment guide, which lists gay-friendly employers.

Since the London Underground bombings on July 7, 2005 MI5 has been expanding rapidly. Staff numbers are expected to hit 3,500 by the end of the year, up from 1,500 in 2001.

The drive to recruit British Muslims and speakers of Asian languages has been well reported, but MI5’s targeting of the gay community will come as something of a surprise.

Ben Summerskill, director of Stonewall, said: “I am optimistic that in 10 to 15 years their [MI5’s] employment profile will look very much like modern Britain. There is no reason why there shouldn’t be a lesbian or gay director-general.” Spies Urged to Come In from the Closet >>> By Jonathan Oliver | August 17, 2008

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Control Order on Muslim Convert Quashed by the High Court
DAILY EXPRESS: A control order restricting the movements of a British convert to Islam has been quashed by the High Court.

MI5 alleged that restrictions were still necessary because of a "reasonable suspicion" that Cerie Bullivant planned to travel to Iraq or Afghanistan to engage in terrorist activity.



But Mr Justice Collins, sitting at London's High Court, quashed the order after ruling: "There is no reasonable suspicion that establishes that." Islam Convert Control Order Quashed >>>

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Asian MI5 and MI6 Officers Speak
BBC: British Asian intelligence and security officers have spoken to the BBC about their work in a bid to broaden recruitment among ethnic minorities.

Two MI5 agents were permitted to talk for the first time in the hope of attracting more ethnic minorities into the security service.

They told Asian Network their job was to protect the UK, not target Muslims.

Meanwhile, a Muslim officer of the security service MI6 has told Radio 1 about her work recruiting spies.

MI5 - Britain's domestic security service - says it hopes the insight into life as a British Asian agent will help increase its percentage of black and minority ethnic staff, which currently stands at 6.5%.

It also wants to improve relations with Muslim communities. >>

LISTEN TO BBC RADIO:
Security services speak to BBC

Mark Alexander

Children for Terror
THE TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda terror group is recruiting British children as young as 15 to wage a campaign of carnage against their own country, the new head of MI5 has said.

In his first public speech since taking over the security service in the summer, Jonathan Evans said Islamists were "radicalising, indoctrinating and grooming young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism".

Mr Evans said the threat posed by al-Qa'eda had yet to reach its peak despite one successful bomb attack and several thwarted atrocities.
He also revealed in a speech in Manchester that al-Qa'eda was using the chaos in Iraq as cover for its overseas forays.
While Pakistan remained the base for the "core" leadership which controls its activities, "there is no doubt now that al-Qa'eda in Iraq aspires to promote terrorist attacks outside Iraq," he said.

Mr Evans added: "There is no doubt there is training activity and terrorist planning in East Africa - particularly in Somalia - which is focused on the UK. MI5: Al-Qa'eda recruiting UK children for terror (more) By Philip Johnston

MI5 Director General’s Speech in Full

Mark Alexander