EXCLUSIVE: FBI agents to guard UK airports against jihadi fanatics
DOZENS of FBI agents are to be posted at UK airports amid fears that Britain’s anti-terrorism efforts are failing to keep track of jihadi fanatics.
FBI agents are being drafted in to reinforce security at UK airports [GETTY]
Three
US officers from a specialist FBI counter-terror unit are expected to
land at Heathrow on Tuesday, with another 10 arriving within the week
and dozens more over coming months.
They will
monitor suspect passengers as well as investigate “terror hot-spots”
across Britain in the wake of the beheading of American James Foley in
Iraq. Last night, however, critics claimed their arrival was an
admission that cuts to police and the UK Border Force had left Britain
out of its depth and overwhelmed in the war on terror.
Officially,
US officers who have been monitoring terrorist activity ever since the
9/11 attacks in 2001 will liaise with the Metropolitan Police’s
secretive SO15 counter-terrorism command and MI5.
However,
there are fears they eventually intend to conduct their own parallel
investigations and recruit their own informants in UK and European
jihadi circles.
Certain areas in the UK have been identified as being terrorist hot-spots and we will be particularly keen to glean further intelligence and garner sources there
Last night a US
intelligence source told the Sunday Express: “Certain areas in the UK
have been identified as being terrorist hot-spots and we will be
particularly keen to glean further intelligence and garner sources
there.
“At airports we will help to monitor by cross-checking details with an international terrorist database which is updated daily.
“The
team will be working closely with UK intelligence officers already
based at airports but may be a little thin on manpower. Essentially we
bring to the table advanced monitoring capabilities and
terrorist-tracking and identification techniques which have been tried
and tested.”
The move comes amid growing US
concerns that Britain is not doing enough to stem the flow of jihadists
travelling to join the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
The
source added: “There is a suspicion among the US intelligence community
that Britain has been and still is a soft touch for jihadists. We are
sending officers to assist the British authorities in collating
information using the most up-to-date techniques.”
Labour’s
shadow policing minister Diana Johnson said: “The questions being
raised about border security are worrying but perhaps unsurprising.
“The
Home Office have stretched the UK Border Agency to breaking point, so
it is little wonder gaps are emerging.” Another Labour MP, Khalid
Mahmood, said: “It’s a bizarre turn of affairs that they are coming here
to police our streets and it says a lot about the inadequacies of our
current systems.
“Our airports are undermanned and maybe American assistance in that area will be a good thing.
“Overall though, the FBI coming here is an admission by the Government that it is out of its depth in dealing with the problem.”
Tory
MP Andrew Percy said: “We have failed as a nation to tackle this
problem, so I am more than happy to have the FBI on the ground in this
country so long as they work under the direction of the British
authorities.”
Last night Foreign Secretary
Philip Hammond warned: “We’re likely to be dealing with the enduring
threat from Syria and Iraq for a generation.
“IS
are turning a swathe of Iraq and Syria into a terrorist state as a base
for attacks on the West. Unless they are stopped, sooner or later they
will seek to strike us on British soil..”
The Met Police refused to comment other than to confirm it often works with US partners.
NWN: How can this be ? Any Yank telling me what to do can just do one.
2 comments:
I can just imagine John Tyndalls response to the above story.
"This is, in theory, still a free country, but our politically correct, censorious times are such that many of us tremble to give vent to perfectly acceptable views for fear of condemnation. Freedom of speech is thereby imperiled, big questions go undebated, and great lies become accepted, unequivocally as great truths." -- Simon Heffer Daily Mail, 7 June 2000
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