Al-Qaeda commander’s guide to beating MI5

In order to throw the security services off their scent, they pretended to be
“un-Islamic” by going to the cinema and joking loudly to each other, he
wrote.

In fact the men were not under surveillance because they had not been
prioritised by MI5 for follow-up and were able to leave the country and
travel to Pakistan to meet Rauf, without attracting attention.

Rauf wrote that he supervised the recording of their suicide videos in a house
in Islamabad they rented after their training.

He recalled being annoyed because there was no natural light and said the pair
were reluctant to make the recordings because they were shy but had agreed
because Haji – a senior al-Qaeda commander believed to be Abu Ubaida
al-Masri – had ordered them to.

Rauf also wrote how Muktar Ibrahim, the leader of the July 21 bombers, who
attempted to attack London two weeks after the 7/7 attacks, was stopped at
Heathrow airport in December 2004 as he left Britain for Pakistan with two
friends, and the group missed their flight.

The Daily Telegraph has previously
reported
that Ibrahim’s driver was under surveillance and was arrested
by police a month later.

Rauf wrote that the three men heading for Pakistan explained away the large
amount of cash they were carrying by pretending that one of their party was
getting married in Pakistan, and showed the security services a wedding ring
as part of the ruse.

According to Rauf, MI5 asked Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence agency
(ISI) to keep track of the group, and at one stage agents visited a house
where they were staying.

Rauf said he instructed them in “counter-surveillance methods” and told them
to behave as if they were about to attend a wedding.

Rauf said he also introduced the 21/7 bombers to Haji, the senior al-Qaeda
commander, but when they attempted to blow up two test bombs, Ibrahim, who
was watching from a distance, saw his two friends killed by the explosion.

The Telegraph has previously
reported
how the two men’s passports were found at Rauf’s home after his
arrest in 2006 and they were presumed dead.

His friends’ “martyrdom” had a “profound effect” on Ibrahim, Rauf wrote, but
Haji was able to persuade him to return to the UK to conduct “operational
work.”

Like the 7/7 pair, Rauf said he then met Ibrahim back in Islamabad, adding:
“During this time we had to arrange codes to communicate. We also had to
record his Wasiya [martyrdom tape]”.

Ibrahim pleaded not-guilty in court, although he was found guilty of
conspiracy to cause explosions and jailed for life. The video has never been
released.

Writing about a third plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners using liquid
bombs disguised as soft drinks bottles, Rauf
explained
they came up with the idea because they were trying to work
out how to smuggle hydrogen peroxide into Britain for another attack.

Abdullah Ahmed Ali, the leader of the plot, who had also met Haji on a
previous visit, travelled to Pakistan in May 2006 so that al-Qaeda could
train him how to make the new devices.

Ali was questioned at Heathrow on departure and tracked by the ISI when he
arrived, according to Rauf.

The ISI requested local police in the Islamabad area to stop Ali and search
his baggage, but they were friends of his family and tipped him off about
the ISI’s interest.

“We trained (him) quickly, and wanted him to leave ASAP. He was also told to
do anti-surveillance measures when he got back and only start work when he
was comfortable that everything was clear,” wrote Rauf.

As Ali made preparations for the attack back in Britain, he became
increasingly concerned he was being followed by the security services, Rauf
revealed. “I told him not to panic,” Rauf wrote.

But this time he was wrong – they were under surveillance and MI5 had cracked
the plot.

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