Pat Dollard

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London Times:

A suspected terrorist who scored a legal victory against the Government this week is a senior al-Qaeda operative living openly in London, security agencies say.

The man, who can be identified only as G, is one of five people who challenged the Treasury’s powers to freeze terrorist suspects’ bank accounts in a successful High Court action.

Yesterday security sources described him as “a key player” who acts as a conduit between British-based extremists and the al-Qaeda leadership hiding out in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Under the Government’s al-Qaeda Order, G was one of 58 people forced to apply to the Treasury for a licence to obtain £10 a week for basic expenses. His grocery receipts had to be sent to the Treasury for scrutiny and he was required to seek permission if he wanted to borrow a car, obtain an Oyster card or buy shoes.

The Times has seen files alleging that the man is involved in recruiting and radicalising young Muslims in Britain and organising travel to Pakistan and Iraq for would-be jihadis.

One document states that he “maintains contact with a significant number of terrorists, including senior al-Qaeda officials in Pakistan”. G, who lives in East London, is understood to be the subject of round-the-clock surveillance by the police and MI5.

He strongly denies any involvement in terrorism and maintains that he is a Muslim missionary on behalf of an apolitical, nonviolent religious group.

A judge ruled on Thursday that financial sanctions imposed on him by the Treasury, which led to his bank account being frozen and his benefit payments stopped, were unfair and unlawful. Mr Justice Collins said that the Government had acted illegally by devising financial sanctions without consulting Parliament.

The judge banned publication of G’s name but The Times is aware of his identity, which is published on a United Nations Security Council list of terrorist suspects linked to al-Qaeda and the Taleban. He also appears on lists maintained by Interpol and the European Union.

One security document outlining the allegations against him states: “[G] has organised travel to Pakistan for individuals seeking to meet with senior al-Qaeda individuals and to undertake jihad training. Several of these individuals have returned to the UK to engage in covert activity on behalf of al-Qaeda. Additionally [G] has provided support and facilitated the travel of UK-based individuals to Iraq to support the insurgents’ fight against coalition forces.”

It is claimed that G stayed at the home of an al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan in 2002 and that he has had military training, including instruction in using an AK47 rifle, at a camp run by a Kashimiri Mujahidin group.

The Government has designated 59 people as terrorist suspects and frozen bank accounts connected to them holding a total of £656,000.

G was placed on the UN list at the request of the Government after the authorities failed to find evidence to prosecute him in the criminal courts. He was arrested and charged with terrorist offences in 2003 but the case against him was unsuccessful.

Frustrated by their inability to prosecute him for criminal offences, the authorities used powers requiring a much lower standard of proof. The Government’s al-Qaeda Order needs nothing more than “reasonable grounds to suspect” that G had terrorist involvement. Once designated a terrorist, the financial restrictions came into force.

Files on G that have been seen by The Times contain allegations that he travelled to Pakistan in 2002 to undergo military training at a camp run by the Kashmiri militant group Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HuM).

One document states: “It is believed that G undertook jihadi training at a HuM training camp in Kashmir where he learnt to use AK47 assault rifles as well as pistols and that he intended to fight in Kashmir but was prevented from doing so by HuM as they needed him to return to the UK to raise funds.”

It adds: “He has been in regular contact with Pakistan-based senior al-Qaeda individuals . . . He is in regular contact with numerous UK-based Islamist extremists and has been involved in the radicalising of UK-based individuals through the distribution of extremist media.”

While in Pakistan, G is said to have met Haroon Rashid Aswat, another Briton who is suspected of involvement in terrorism, and who was arrested in southern Africa in 2005. Mr Aswat is in custody fighting extradition to the US on terrorist charges.

Under the terms of the financial sanctions, G is not allowed to see the evidence collected against him nor to know how it was obtained. It is understood that the material incriminating him was gathered by intelligence agencies and includes telephone intercepts, which cannot be used as evidence in British courts. Some claims in the documents are thought to be based on reports of interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects. If those interrogations involved torture, that material would also be deemed inadmissible in a British court.

Lawyers for G argued successfully that it was a breach of his fundamental rights that the allegations made against him could not be challenged in the courts. The judge agreed. In his ruling, he said: “This cannot be in the interests of justice or indeed of ensuring that the right people are made subject to these orders.”

Government ministers expressed disappointment with the ruling and said that they would take the case to the Court of Appeal. The asset-freezing order remains in place pending that appeal.

The UN’s list of 230 extremists

— The UN Security Council’s list of suspected terrorists was compiled in 1999, as part of Resolution 1267

— It contains the names of 230 individuals believed to be key members or associates of al-Qaeda, as well as 112 organisations that are part of al-Qaeda’s global terrorist network. Also listed are 142 Taleban members or associates

— Named individuals include Hassan Abdullah al-Turki, the Ethiopian militant thought to have been responsible for the lethal bombings of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in August 1998. Abu Bakar Bashir, the Indonesian preacher thought to be the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, the organisation suspected of planting bombs that killed 202 people in Bali in 2002, is also listed

— The list records 12 aliases and six possible dates of birth for Osama bin Laden

— It also contains nine individuals living in the UK. Three people held in British prisons are also included