Free Republic

A Senate Judiciary Subcmte. looks into the legal conduct of Justice Dept. lawyers who approved harsh interrogation techniques. One of the witnesses, fmr. FBI agent Ali Soufan, interrogated Guantanamo detainee Abu Zubaydah.

UK 'ignored spy's al-Qaeda fear' Hamza was spied on by Nasiri UK intelligence services were warned of the threat posed by al-Qaeda in the mid 1990s but did not act quickly enough, says a spy who infiltrated the network.The agent told the BBC he warned his handlers that al-Qaeda was better organised than was previously thought. Known by the pseudonym of Omar Nasiri, he worked for intelligence in the UK and France, and trained in Afghanistan. Mr Nasiri also claimed a senior al-Qaeda operative planted evidence to provoke the US into war against Iraq. Ibn Sheikh Al-Libi fabricated links...

It is rare to get an insider's perspective on the emergence of al-Qaeda. It is also rare to get a glimpse of the world of spies and agents. To provide both is incredibly unusual. Omar Nasiri - not his real name but one chosen to protect his identity - says he spent seven years working as an agent for European intelligence services and as an al-Qaeda operative, part of the time in the UK. He provides a unique insight into how al-Qaeda was far more organised, coherent and determined in the 1990s than was appreciated at the time. Jihad militants...