I think the Brits have lost it. I will let the article speak for itself:
Al-Qaeda operative can stay in UK despite posing threat, judge rules
The leader of an al-Qaeda terrorist cell that plotted a bomb atrocity in Britain will not be deported after a tribunal ruled that his human rights would be breached if he were ill treated by Pakistans security services.
Abid Naseer, 24, was one of 12 men ten of them Pakistanis on student visas arrested last year during counter-terrorism raids in Manchester and Liverpool. A judge rejected his claims of innocence yesterday, describing him as an al-Qaeda operative who posed and still poses a serious threat to the national security of the United Kingdom.
Mr Justice Mitting said that although it was conducive to the public good that he should be deported this was not possible because of the risk that he would suffer torture at the hands of Pakistans notorious Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI).
Police raided properties in northwest England last April after an intercepted e-mail sent by Mr Naseer to an al-Qaeda associate in Pakistan suggested that terrorists planned an attack within days. The raids were rushed forward after secret papers about Operation Pathway were accidentally made public when Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, of the Metropolitan Police, was photographed in Downing Street holding the documents.He resigned, but Gordon Brown said the operation had foiled a very big terrorist plot.
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No explosives or bomb-making equipment were found and none of the 12 was charged with any terrorism offence, but the ten Pakistanis were detained pending appeals against the Home Offices decision to deport them on the ground of national security.
A parliamentary inquiry was later held after The Times revealed that eight of them had enrolled as students at a bogus college set up as a front for a mass immigration fraud. Manchester College of Professional Studies, which had two classrooms and three teachers, claimed to have 50 students but had secretly enrolled 1,797 foreigners.
Eight of the ten detainees returned voluntarily to Pakistan. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled yesterday that Mr Naseer and Ahmed Faraz Khan, 26, both still in Britain, were involved in the terrorist plot but granted their appeals over the issue of safety of return. A third man, Shoaib Khan, 31, who had been deported to Pakistan, won his appeal and can now apply to return to Britain.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was disappointed by the ruling. The Home Office had argued that the detainees who chose to return to Pakistan had not been held by the ISI and had not come to any harm. As the court agreed, they are a security risk to the UK. We are now taking all possible measures to ensure they do not engage in terrorist activity.
After their release, the two men are expected to be placed on control orders or under police surveillance.
Mr Naseer came to Britain in 2006 to study at John Moores University, Liverpool, but dropped out after a week and enrolled at Manchester College of Professional Studies.
Much of the case against him was heard in secret but the evidence in open court included meetings between the cell members and an exchange of coded e-mails with an al-Qaeda associate in Pakistan. They discussed girls that Mr Naseer claimed to have met while looking for a wife. The final e-mail on April 3 named his chosen bride and said that the wedding would take place between April 15 and 20.
MI5s assessment, which the tribunal accepted after considering a substantial volume of closed material, was that each named woman was a different type of explosive. Their personalities they were variously described as weak, difficult to convince, easy to befriend, crystal clear, fond of money and liable to let you down were said to denote each explosives characteristics and availability. The wedding date revealed the timing of the attack. Mr Naseer claimed that these were innocent e-mails detailing his efforts to find a wife but Mr Justice Mitting said his explanation was utterly implausible.
A Whitehall source said: These arrests disrupted an al-Qaeda-directed plot aimed at carrying out a mass casualty attack in Britain. That terror threat is serious and ongoing.
Sarah Kellas and Gareth Peirce, solicitors for Mr Naseer and Mr Faraz, said in a statement that the tribunals decision was the worst of all worlds for their clients. On the basis of secret evidence that it refuses to disclose to the students, the court tells the world that they are closely connected to an al-Qaeda plot to cause explosions. These young men have been branded publicly and thereby exposed to personal danger for the rest of their lives. Its no way to conduct justice. If people have committed a crime, put them on trial.
Al-Qaeda operative can stay in UK despite posing threat, judge rules
The leader of an al-Qaeda terrorist cell that plotted a bomb atrocity in Britain will not be deported after a tribunal ruled that his human rights would be breached if he were ill treated by Pakistans security services.
Abid Naseer, 24, was one of 12 men ten of them Pakistanis on student visas arrested last year during counter-terrorism raids in Manchester and Liverpool. A judge rejected his claims of innocence yesterday, describing him as an al-Qaeda operative who posed and still poses a serious threat to the national security of the United Kingdom.
Mr Justice Mitting said that although it was conducive to the public good that he should be deported this was not possible because of the risk that he would suffer torture at the hands of Pakistans notorious Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI).
Police raided properties in northwest England last April after an intercepted e-mail sent by Mr Naseer to an al-Qaeda associate in Pakistan suggested that terrorists planned an attack within days. The raids were rushed forward after secret papers about Operation Pathway were accidentally made public when Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, of the Metropolitan Police, was photographed in Downing Street holding the documents.He resigned, but Gordon Brown said the operation had foiled a very big terrorist plot.
Related Links
No explosives or bomb-making equipment were found and none of the 12 was charged with any terrorism offence, but the ten Pakistanis were detained pending appeals against the Home Offices decision to deport them on the ground of national security.
A parliamentary inquiry was later held after The Times revealed that eight of them had enrolled as students at a bogus college set up as a front for a mass immigration fraud. Manchester College of Professional Studies, which had two classrooms and three teachers, claimed to have 50 students but had secretly enrolled 1,797 foreigners.
Eight of the ten detainees returned voluntarily to Pakistan. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled yesterday that Mr Naseer and Ahmed Faraz Khan, 26, both still in Britain, were involved in the terrorist plot but granted their appeals over the issue of safety of return. A third man, Shoaib Khan, 31, who had been deported to Pakistan, won his appeal and can now apply to return to Britain.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was disappointed by the ruling. The Home Office had argued that the detainees who chose to return to Pakistan had not been held by the ISI and had not come to any harm. As the court agreed, they are a security risk to the UK. We are now taking all possible measures to ensure they do not engage in terrorist activity.
After their release, the two men are expected to be placed on control orders or under police surveillance.
Mr Naseer came to Britain in 2006 to study at John Moores University, Liverpool, but dropped out after a week and enrolled at Manchester College of Professional Studies.
Much of the case against him was heard in secret but the evidence in open court included meetings between the cell members and an exchange of coded e-mails with an al-Qaeda associate in Pakistan. They discussed girls that Mr Naseer claimed to have met while looking for a wife. The final e-mail on April 3 named his chosen bride and said that the wedding would take place between April 15 and 20.
MI5s assessment, which the tribunal accepted after considering a substantial volume of closed material, was that each named woman was a different type of explosive. Their personalities they were variously described as weak, difficult to convince, easy to befriend, crystal clear, fond of money and liable to let you down were said to denote each explosives characteristics and availability. The wedding date revealed the timing of the attack. Mr Naseer claimed that these were innocent e-mails detailing his efforts to find a wife but Mr Justice Mitting said his explanation was utterly implausible.
A Whitehall source said: These arrests disrupted an al-Qaeda-directed plot aimed at carrying out a mass casualty attack in Britain. That terror threat is serious and ongoing.
Sarah Kellas and Gareth Peirce, solicitors for Mr Naseer and Mr Faraz, said in a statement that the tribunals decision was the worst of all worlds for their clients. On the basis of secret evidence that it refuses to disclose to the students, the court tells the world that they are closely connected to an al-Qaeda plot to cause explosions. These young men have been branded publicly and thereby exposed to personal danger for the rest of their lives. Its no way to conduct justice. If people have committed a crime, put them on trial.
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