Special Branch, the intelligence-gathering arm of Scotland Yard, had been talking to Abu Hamza since early 1997, when he was still preaching in Luton. In the classified records of the meetings he is referred to by the codename 'damson berry'. Unknown to the police, MI5 had also begun meeting Abu Hamza at the behest of French intelligence; he was given the MI5 code number 910...Confidential memos of meetings between the imam of Finsbury Park and his MI5 and Special Branch contacts reveal a respectful, polite and often cooperative relationship. There were at least seven meetings between Abu Hamza and MI5 officers between 1997 and 2000. - The Suicide Factory, page 229. It's one of the big head scratchers of the war on terror, even before it was officially called that. Allow the radicals to operate, then drum up fear about radicals operating. Maybe they wouldn't be operating if the authorities didn't allow them to operate? Haroon Aswat who was allegedly sent by Hamza to the US t! o open the training camp is strongly suspected as being a former MI6 informant. As documented in the film Aswat re-entered Britain shortly before 7/7 despite being wanted in the United States. He was not monitored because he was considered too low risk, but after the bombings intelligence sources fingered him in the media as the mastermind, citing still undisclosed phone records allegedly connecting him to the bombers in the days and hours before the attacks. A US Federal Prosecutor and French
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