• Login
  • Home
  • Pakistan
  • International News
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Pakistan
  • International News
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Times of Pakistan
No Result
View All Result
Home International News Europe

7/7 inquests: MI5 ‘not responsible for attack’

ToP by ToP
February 22, 2011
in Europe, International News
0
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

MI5’s chief of staff has told the 7 July inquests that the security service cannot be held responsible for the 2005 London suicide attacks.Giving evidence anonymously, Witness G said the agency had no inkling of what was to hit London and every member of the service felt profound regret.It would be “nonsensical and offensive” to suggest MI5 bore any responsibility for the 52 deaths, the officer said.Families of the bereaved were in court to see Witness G give evidence.But reporters in a nearby annex could only hear his voice.Four suicide bombers detonated their devices on three Tube trains and a double-decker bus on 7 July 2005.Many of the relatives of those who died want to know why those under surveillance were not subjected to detailed scrutiny.Witness G, who acts as chief of staff for the service’s director general Jonathan Evans, said he had spent between three and four months preparing for the inquests, carefully reviewing what MI5 knew about the bombers before they attacked.The inquests have already heard that the ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan appeared on the periphery of another investigation, codenamed Crevice, in 2004 – but the security service concluded at the time he was not a threat to the UK.It also heard how counter-terrorism officers watched, photographed and followed another of the suicide bombers, Shehzad Tanweer, during the same inquiry into the group of extremists planning a fertiliser bomb attack.Questioned by Hugo Keith QC, counsel to the inquests, Witness G briefly outlined the scale of the threats to the UK during 2004 and 2005.Mr Keith said: “The security service had no inkling of what was going to befall London?””On 7th July 2005, that is correct,” said Witness G. “It would be nonsensical and offensive.”Witness G said there were “no guarantees” in national security because the security service could not foil all of the attacks all of the time.Mr Keith said: “I understand that the security service says… that the service cannot be held responsible for causing or contributing to the attacks?”Witness G replied: “That is correct.”

Mr Keith went on: “And you reject the assertion that there were significant intelligence failings?”Witness G replied: “I do.”Asked if lessons had been learnt from the follow-up of Crevice which was not “quite as thorough” as it might have been, Witness G said: “Not just Crevice, I think we learnt lessons from a number of operations between 2004 and 2005.”MI5 chiefs have previously told the Intelligence and Security Committee that in late 2004, their officers had an enormous workload because of massive growth in al-Qaeda-linked plots.Witness G said this workload, revealed in documents to the inquests, meant the service was forced to “prioritise ruthlessly”, and could only pin down the “crocodiles nearest the boat” rather than follow up every individual potential lead.MI5 had received intelligence in early 2005 about a committed extremist called “Saddique” from Batley, West Yorkshire, who spent two months doing military training after travelling to Pakistan in 2001, the inquest heard.

Witness G was asked if MI5’s system at the time allowed officers to collate the references to a suspect called Sidique, and he replied: “They could have done.”But he said the search was “still a long way from perfect on common names”. He said the name Sidique was a common name for MI5.In a bugged conversation, Sidique Khan was also heard discussing travelling to Pakistan to fight jihad with fertiliser bomb plot ringleader Omar Khyam in February 2004, although police only established it was Khan’s voice on the tape after the 7 July attacks.Mr Keith said: “Now that sort of tape would cause alarm bells to ring perhaps somewhat louder than had been the case in February 2004?”Witness G said: “Yes, it would, but again within the context of if a major operation were running, it might need to be put to one side.”MI5 also received information in April 2004 from Mohammed Junaid Babar – a former terrorist who became a supergrass – that two men from West Yorkshire called “Ibrahim” and “Zubair” had travelled to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan the previous year.

Babar was shown surveillance pictures of Khan and Tanweer in August 2004 but failed to identify them, and it was only confirmed after the 7/7 attacks that “Ibrahim” was Khan.Witness G was asked why a photograph of Tanweer but not one of Khan – known only at the time as “unidentified man E” – was shown to Babar in April 2004.He replied: “I can only speculate here because we don’t know exactly why.”The judgement we formed was that the cropped photograph of man E was probably such poor quality it wasn’t worth showing, but I don’t have any contemporaneous record documentation.”Last month, the coroner Lady Justice Hallett granted a request from Home Secretary Theresa May for Witness G to give evidence anonymously.But she refused to rule that the witness should be screened from the families of those who died.The attacks were carried out by suicide bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Hasib Hussain, 18, and Germaine Lindsay, 19.They targeted Tube trains at Aldgate, Edgware Road and Russell Square and a bus in Tavistock Square – BBC

Previous Post

Pakistan wants nuclear technology to meet its energy shortage: Zardari

Next Post

India’s immense ‘food theft’ scandal

ToP

ToP

Related Posts

FO deplores India’s ‘public notice’ advising students not to pursue higher education in Pakistan
International News

FO deplores India’s ‘public notice’ advising students not to pursue higher education in Pakistan

by Top
April 26, 2022
Hina Khar, UAE minister discuss bilateral ties
International News

Hina Khar, UAE minister discuss bilateral ties

by Top
April 22, 2022
Attacks on mosques, businesses a precursor of full-blown Muslim genocide in India
International News

Attacks on mosques, businesses a precursor of full-blown Muslim genocide in India

by Top
April 21, 2022
UN chief calls for calm in Jerusalem after serious Palestinian-Israeli clashes
International News

UN chief calls for calm in Jerusalem after serious Palestinian-Israeli clashes

by Top
April 18, 2022
India’s noncompliance with UN Kashmir resolutions, arms buildup threaten South Asia peace: Pakistan
International News

India’s noncompliance with UN Kashmir resolutions, arms buildup threaten South Asia peace: Pakistan

by Top
April 7, 2022
Foreign interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs reported: Russian MFA spokesperson
International News

Foreign interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs reported: Russian MFA spokesperson

by Top
April 6, 2022
UNGA votes to again blame Russia for Ukraine humanitarian crisis; Pakistan abstains
International News

UNGA votes to again blame Russia for Ukraine humanitarian crisis; Pakistan abstains

by Top
April 6, 2022
Next Post
India’s immense ‘food theft’ scandal

India's immense 'food theft' scandal

Popular Stories

  • Nausheen Shah faces backlash and attacks for her post about being unmarried in Pakistan

    Nausheen Shah faces backlash and attacks for her post about being unmarried in Pakistan

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Megan Fox reveals cover future spare baby Noahs blushes

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Pakistan’s world snooker champion Asif gets hero’s welcome on return

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Be A Man

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bare-Chested Tribal Women Greets Kate Middleton On Royal Tour In Solomon Islands

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Times of Pakistan

About Times Of Pakistan

kralbetbetturkeyikimislibahis1xbetm.infohipas.infohttps://www.wiibet.com/restbetcdn.com

Other Categories

  • Beautiful Pakistan
  • Fashion News
  • Funny News
  • Viral Videos
  • Weird News

Recent Posts

  • Colors of state media’s electronic banners, websites’ logos changed to mourn UAE President’s demise: Marriyum
  • PM orders immediate restoration of NCOC after detection of Omicron’s sub-variant
  • Present govt does not believe in restrictions on media freedom, controversial PMDA abolished: Marriyum

Times Of Pakistan © 2021. Design & Developed by E2E Solution Providers.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Pakistan
  • International News
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In