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Cleric: ‘Al-Qa’eda Leader Told Me Of Bomb Plot’ (UK)
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 7-2-2007 | Nicole Martin - Sophie Borland
Posted on 07/03/2007 7:13:48 PM PDT by blam
Cleric: ‘Al-Qa’eda leader told me of bomb plot’
By Nicole Martin and Sophie Borland
Last Updated: 2:52am BST 04/07/2007
A British cleric in Baghdad last night claimed that an al-Qa’eda leader warned him that “the people who cure you would kill you” months before the terrorist bomb plots in Glasgow and London.
Canon Andrew White, who runs the Iraqi capital’s only Anglican parish, claimed that he met an unnamed al-Qa’eda leader on the sidelines of a religious reconciliation meeting in Amman, Jordan.
“He told me that the plans were already made and they would soon be destroying the British,” Canon White said. “He said the people who cure you would kill you.”
Canon White claimed that he had passed on a general warning, but not the specific words, to an official at the Foreign Office in mid-April.
The Foreign Office said last night that “the official in question does not recall the conversation”.
Canon White said he did not learn the identity of the man until after the meeting, and would not disclose it now.
However, he added: “I met the Devil that day.”
Following the arrests of NHS workers, hospitals have been given new guidance for carrying out police checks on overseas doctors.
The NHS Employers’ Organisation said that due to the constant movement of junior doctors around the country, regular police checks were essential.
The organisation urged hospitals to carry out checks in doctors’ home countries and repeat this as “good practice” every three years.
Thousands of doctors from overseas will take up the new junior posts this August.
However, the organisation also warned trusts not to target doctors because of their religion or belief.
Sian Thomas, its deputy director, said: “It is good practice for an employer to carry out a Criminal Records Bureau check - even if an applicant claims never to have lived in the UK - and a police check in that person’s country of origin.”
Earlier, the Department of Health had vigorously defended its procedure for vetting doctors amid concerns that one of the suspects was a locum.
Ms Thomas said she wanted to reassure the public that there were “thorough and robust checks”.
But she said that the checks were designed to test “their merits to do the job they do”, rather than their political or extremist affiliations. She said she did not believe that it was the health service’s duty to check for such connections.
Agencies supplying locums to the health service are expected to carry out pre-employment checks on recruits before they take them on their books.
They should verify their identify, check their medical qualifications and carry out annual criminal record checks to ensure that they are suitable for temporary positions.
NHS hospital trusts should make sure that agencies have conducted all the necessary checks before the locum is permitted to work.
The fact that the only common thread these Docs had was their religion shouldn't cause you to profile them, no sir, can't have people saying the Brits are not PC!/SAR