by antiaristo » Sat Sep 03, 2005 9:32 pm
<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Revealed: MI6 plan to infiltrate extremists <br><br>Read the letter from the head of the intelligence arm of the Foreign Office here (pdf)<br><br>Read the memo from the FCO's Islamic issues adviser here (pdf) <br><br>Martin Bright, home affairs editor<br>Sunday September 4, 2005<br>The Observer <br><br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>British intelligence officers planned a 'black propaganda' campaign against Islamic extremists, infiltrating their groups through the internet, documents leaked to The Observer reveal.<br>Details of the proposals, contained in a letter from the head of the intelligence arm of the Foreign Office, will cause widespread alarm within government.<br><br>The letter reveals that the FCO planned to spread anti-Western propaganda as a way of gaining the trust of Islamic extremists and then arguing that violence was not the way forward.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Last week, in a separate leak, The Observer revealed that the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office has directly blamed the war in Iraq for a growth of extremism in Britain.<br><br>The confidential letter from the Foreign Office's top intelligence official, William Ehrman, to the government's security and intelligence co-ordinator, Sir David Omand, dated 23 April 2004, proposed that spies should infiltrate extremist websites posing as radicals and dissuade extremists from taking up arms. His only concerns were that similar operations during the Cold War 'had a mixed record' and that he might not have the linguists and Islamic experts necessary for the job.<br><br>The letter reveals that Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6, was already working to 'export' propaganda techniques used by its counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.<br><br>Ehrman's high-risk strategy distinguishes between overt diplomacy and covert propaganda. On the one hand, he suggests that diplomats should continue to promote 'messages that will bolster modern Western-orientated currents of thought in Islam'. But behind the scenes he proposed developing 'messages aimed at more radicalised constituencies who are potential recruits to terrorism'.<br><br>These radicals would not listen to the traditional calls 'for the Middle East to become a zone of peace and prosperity', said the intelligence officer. 'They might, however, listen to religious arguments about the nature of jihad, that, while anti-Western, eschew terrorism.'<br><br>Officials within the Foreign Office are known to be unhappy about the growing 'Islamisation' of the department and many feel uncomfortable with moves across Whitehall to open up a dialogue with radical Islamists. However, ministers believe it makes sense to engage with the more moderate fringes of political Islam.<br><br>The policy of engagement with radicals was tested by the bombings of 7 July, but the Home Office and Foreign Office have pressed on with their plans, sources have told The Observer. This includes talking to the likes of Tariq Ramadan, the Geneva-based scholar appointed to a Home Office task force on extremism last week. Ramadan has been refused entry to the US and France in the past because of his alleged extremist views and contacts, but has condemned terrorist attacks on Western targets.<br><br>The 7 July bombings were a direct challenge to the policy of engagement and have led some critics to suggest it should be abandoned. One former minister said last night: 'The strategic error is to think you can fight hot fire with cooler fire. These people still want to see sharia law extended and find it difficult to handle secularism or gay rights. You need more, genuine political engagement rather than searching for the acceptable face of Islam.'<br><br>A second document seen by The Observer will further fuel concerns of increasing 'Islamist' influence in the Foreign Office. The memo from Mockbul Ali, the FCO's Islamic issues adviser, recommends allowing the radical Qatari-based cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi into Britain. Qaradawi has consistently supported suicide bombers in Palestine and armed resistance to coalition forces in Iraq. The Observer reported last weekend that the scholar had said that martyrdom was a 'duty' of Muslims in Iraq and Palestine.<br><br>The memo of 14 July, a week after the London suicide bombings, reveals that the director-general (political) of the Foreign Office, John Sawers, agreed the line to support a visa application from al-Qaradawi.<br><br>The memo contains the warning that refusing Qaradawi entry could lead to further terrorist attacks.<br><br>'Exclusion ... could turn Muslim opinion further against the UK and encourage some to move to violence against British targets.'<br><br>According to the official, although controversial, Qaradawi's views are mainstream in the Muslim world: 'We certainly do not agree with Qaradawi's views on Israel and Iraq, but we have to recognise that they are not unusual amongst Muslims.<br><br>'Refusing entry on these grounds would also open a Pandora's box in relation to entry clearance for others in the Muslim world.'<br><br>· Read the letter from the head of the intelligence arm of the Foreign Office here (pdf)<br><br>· Read the memo from the FCO's Islamic issues adviser here (pdf)</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1562428,00.html">observer.guardian.co.uk/p...28,00.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>