The London machete attack

Woolwich suspect's friend arrested after appearing on Newsnight

Man detained after claiming on television that Michael Adebolajo was tortured in Kenya and harassed by MI5 agents

Abu Nusaybah: 'I believe that certain events that happened to [Adebolajo] recently had an impact in shaping the changes.' Photograph: BBC

the Guardian,

24 May, 2013

A friend of one of the suspected killers of a soldier butchered in a London street was arrested by counter-terrorism officers yesterday after going on television to allege that Michael Adebolajo was tortured in Kenya and harassed by MI5 – who asked him to spy for them.

The allegations came from Abu Nusaybah, who was arrested under terrorism legislation minutes after finishing recording his interview for BBC Newsnight.

The Guardian understands that Nusaybah is connected to extremists formerly in the banned group al-Muhajiroun. Counter-terrorism officers turned up at reception at the BBC's central London headquarters as his interview was being recorded an hour before it was broadcast. The officers waited, then arrested Nusaybah as he left the BBC's headquarters.

In the interview, Abu Nusaybah in part attributed Adebolajo's radicalisation to his alleged ill-treatment in Kenya.

Nusaybah alleged that Adebolajo was arrested while studying in a village in Kenya last year. After refusing to answer questions, Adebolajo was told that he was "not in the UK" and was then, he claimed, sexually assaulted. On his return, "he became more reclined [sic], less talkative. He wasn't his bubbly self," said Nusaybah, who said that the experience further radicalised Adebolajo.

The Guardian has learned that, last year, Adebolajo went to a lawyer to complain of harassment by MI5, who are drawing criticism today for knowing about the 28-year-old but not assessing him to be a bigger terrorist threat.

He was arrested at the scene of the soldier's murder in Woolwich on Wednesday in the first terror-related death on mainland Britain since the 7 July 2005 bombings.

The Guardian also understands from Whitehall sources that they were aware that Adebolajo was detained in Kenya before being deported.

Nusaybah said he had known Adebolajo since they grew up together in Romford, Essex.

Since the attack on the soldier, Lee Rigby, on Wednesday, a total of six people have been arrested. Nusaybah's was the first under counter-terrorism laws; the rest have been detained under regular criminal laws. Nusaybah was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Asked about the unusual sequence of events leading to the arrest, the Metropolitan police said: "He was not arrested because of his comments on Newsnight."

The police would not say what led to his arrest, which BBC insiders said had left them shocked. Police also said he was not arrested in connection to the murder of Lee Rigby. Nusaybah's home is understood to be one of two addresses in east London being searched by officers after his arrest.

In the interview, Abu Nusaybah described how the two men became friends after meeting in Romford in 2002, before both had converted to Islam. "I used to go there to chill out with friends," he said. "One day we bumped into each other. You didn't see a lot of black guys down there, so we talked and swapped numbers." The two men converted to Islam independently in 2004. "I came into Islam in 2004 and he came in four months later," Nusaybah said.

He also confirmed that Adebolajo frequented meetings of the now-banned al-Muhajiroun group, where he listened to the preachings of extremist clerics. "He attended some of their activities, but he was an independent guy. He would float about," Nusaybah said.

Adebolajo did not want to see sharia law imposed in Britain, but thought it more sensible for someone like him to go and live in a Muslim country, according to the interviewee. "He wanted to be qualified to teach and to do fitness training. He could use that to go abroad and live in a Muslim country."

Abu Nusaybah said that he believed that Adebolajo became radicalised about six months ago. He said he saw profound changes in Adebolajo's character at that time, which he attributed to his experiences in Kenya and to events on his return to Britain. "I believe that certain events that happened to him recently had an impact in shaping the changes. He became more reclined [sic], less talkative. He wasn't his bubbly self," he said.

Adebolajo had told Nusaybah how he had gone to study in a village in Kenya when he and others were rounded up by the Kenyan army. When he was interrogated, he refused to speak. "They told him, 'You are not in the UK now.' They took his private parts and said, 'We will F you.' He told me he was physically assaulted and sexually threatened. If you looked at his face, he was holding back tears," Nusaybah said.

When Adebolajo returned to England, he was interviewed by MI5 officers and, according to Nusaybah, was planning to leave again to live in a Muslim country. "His whole concept was he wanted to live in a Muslim land because at the time he was being harassed by MI5.

"They were knocking and knocking on his door. He pretended not to be there, but then he spoke to the agent. They said, 'We just want to speak to you.' They wanted to ask him if he knew certain people," he said.

"But after him saying that he didn't know these individuals, he said they asked him if he would be interested in working for them. He was explicit in that he refused to work for them but he did confirm he didn't know the individuals."

"His word was, 'They are bugging me,'" said Nusaybah.

In a statement about the arrest, Scotland Yard said: "At around 2130 hours on Friday 24 May, a 31-year-old man was arrested in London by officers from the MPS Counter-Terrorism Command on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000. The man has been taken to a south London police station, where he remains in custody. Search warrants are being executed at two residential addresses in east London."

Blame game: MI5 faces probe over Woolwich killing

RT,

24 May, 2013

UK security services will be investigated after it was found that MI5 knew of both suspects in the Woolwich murder for eight years. Accusations of blame have been rife following the killing, with many blaming UK foreign policy as the root of the tragedy.

Security services have been put to questioning after it was found that the two suspected Woolwich murderers had been flagged by MI5 for eight years. In response to the discovery, a House of Commons inquiry will be launched into the British security services’ handling of the murder.

However, security officials maintain that despite having a record of the two suspects, the attack would have been near impossible to prevent. Intelligence expert Glenn Montravor said that the suspects – Mr. Adebolajo, 28, and Mr Adebowale, 22 – likely had no intention to commit such a crime, and that their time and target was chosen at random.

“Even though our security services were aware of these perpetrators, it is almost impossible to predict when people suddenly, almost by happenstance, choose the time and place, and this poor unfortunate soldier was the target,” Montravor told RT.

The two suspects were shot by police after hacking to death Army Drummer Lee Rigby, 25, in broad daylight on Wednesday in the Woolwich area of East London. They are currently in separate hospitals under police surveillance and awaiting questioning.

An amateur video obtained by the Sun newspaper shows the police gunning down one of the suspects who allegedly charged at the officers' car when they arrived at the scene of the crime.

“These sort of individualistic, lone-wolf style attacks, that don’t require great planning, don’t require some sort of specialist equipment, will become one of the main ways that people make a protest,” said Annie Machon, a former MI5 intelligence officer.

The Metropolitan Police announced Friday that a further 29-year-old woman and a 31-year-old woman arrested as part of the murder investigation have been released without charge. A 29-year-old man arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder remains in custody.

It was found that one of the aggressors in the attack was a Muslim convert. Michael Adebolajo came to Islam later in life upon leaving university when he joined a now-banned Islamist organization al-Muhajiroun. He also took the new name Mujaahid – meaning the one who engages in Jihad. Adebolajo was an active member of the group and attended regular meetings and demonstrations.

Speculation has been rampant as to what drove the suspects to commit the murder – what the two men called an “eye-for-an-eye” act to avenge Muslims killed abroad by UK troops. Many have suggested that the attack was blowback against British participation in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.

“If you listen to the words of the attackers themselves, it’s clear they wished to bring the war they saw on the streets of Baghdad and Kabul onto the streets of London,” Carl Miller, a research director from UK think tank Demos told RT.

London Mayor Boris Johnson was quick to quash claims that the attacks were driven by extreme Islam or UK foreign policy. However, former Mayor Ken Livingstone accused Johnson of barefaced lying: “They are lying. They are completely complicit with the US policy just like Tony Blair was with George Bush. They aren’t prepared to stand up and say, well we think this strategy has been a disaster,” he told RT.

‘We’re inspiring them’

The UK’s military presence abroad is inspiring extremist attacks in Great Britain, an anonymous British solider told RT’s Sara Firth.

“But also the argument’s to be made because we’re out there, we’re inspiring them or motivating them,” he told RT. “Our presence out there is sort of motivating the cells that are back in the UK to operate more and carry out more attacks.”

UK Muslim groups have decried the attack as an abomination, and condemned extremism. Thousands of Ahmadiyya Muslims are expected to gather in London on Friday to offer prayers to Drummer Rigby.

But the cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who knew one of the suspects personally, has said while being filmed secretly by the Independent, that Abebolajo is a “hero” for what he has done and that his actions were “justified” under Islam.

“I saw the film and we could see that he [the suspect] was being very courageous. Under Islam this can be justified, he was not targeting civilians; he was taking on a military man in an operation. To people around here [in the Middle East] he is a hero for what he has done,” Muhammed told the Independent from Lebanon.

Omar Bakri Mohammed was banned from Britain over extremist activities and his alleged links to al-Qaida.

While in the UK, Michael Abebolajo, regularly attended meetings with the Mohammed in London, before he converted to Islam and became known as Abdullah.

London Machete Murder: Multi-culti fail or snooping screwup?

The Woolwich murder has seen a rise of attacks against Muslims. Reports suggest there there were several dozen Islamophobic crimes committed across Britain on Wednesday night. Extra police have been deployed to Muslim sites.

Ian Dunt, editor of politics.co.uk, and Carlos Cortiglia from the right wing British National Party discuss the issue.