MI5 linked to arrest of Britons in Syria

GUARDIAN.co.uk ^ | Thursday 14 May 2009 10.52 BST | Ian Cobain

[Cindy]

"MI5 linked to arrest of Britons in Syria Spy agency investigated woman accused by Damascus of sending UK money to al-Qaida offshoot, says Labour peer"

SNIPPET: "Relatives of Maryam Kallis and Yasser Ahmed say they have not been told the reasons for their arrests two months ago and are concerned they may be suffering severe mistreatment.

The Syrian embassy in London has alleged that Kallis received funds from an individual "who resides in the UK" and conveyed them to "a terrorist network related to al-Qaida". The assertion suggests that the individual would have been investigated by MI5."

SNIPPET: "Kallis, 36, from west London, and Ahmed, 28, from Woking, Surrey, have both lived in Damascus for a number of years, having travelled there after telling friends and relatives that they wished to study Arabic. They were detained on consecutive days, and for several weeks the FCO maintained it did not know why."

SNIPPET: "Despite this, the British government has been pressing for greater intelligence sharing between London and Damascus. With the smuggling of terrorist fighters into Iraq said to have been revived in recent months, the administration of Barack Obama is reported to be attempting to forge close diplomatic ties."

[Cindy]

Off (thread) Topic:

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2248686/posts

Somali pirates guided by London intelligence team
Guardian News and Media Limited ^ | Monday 11 May 2009 12.59 BST | Giles Tremlett
Posted on May 11, 2009 12:02:25 PM PDT by gandalftb

The Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean are directed to their targets by a “consultant” team in London, according to European military intelligence.

Pirate groups have “well-placed informers” in London who are in regular contact with control centres in Somalia where decisions on which vessels to attack are made. These London-based “consultants” help the pirates select targets, providing information on the ships’ cargoes and courses.

In at least one case the pirates have remained in contact with their London informants from the hijacked ship, according to one targeted shipping company.

The pirates’ information network extends to Yemen, Dubai and the Suez canal.

This enables the more organised pirate groups to study their targets in advance, even spending several days training teams for specific hijacks. Senior pirates then join the vessel once it has been sailed close to Somalia.

Captains of attacked ships have found that pirates know everything from the layout of the vessel to its ports of call. Vessels targeted as a result of this kind of intelligence included the Greek cargo ship Titan, the Turkish merchant ship Karagol and the Spanish trawler Felipe Ruano.

In each case, says the document, the pirates had full knowledge of the cargo, nationality and course of the vessel.

The national flag of a ship is also taken into account when choosing a target, with British vessels being increasingly avoided, according to the report.

European countries have set up Operation Atalanta to co-ordinate their military efforts in the area.

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...