From the Sunday Times:
A former bodyguard to the leader of Hamas secured asylum and citizenship in Britain before “plotting” a terrorist attack against Jews in Europe before the second anniversary of the October 7 massacre.
Mr X, who cannot be named for legal reasons, served in the personal security team of Ismail Haniyeh, who was then the leader of Hamas in Gaza and later chairman of its political bureau, before moving to the UK more than a decade ago.
At the time he was awarded refugee status, it was public knowledge that he had worked for Haniyeh, was the son of another senior Hamas official, and had been arrested in Egypt for operating a tunnel allegedly used to smuggle firearms and gold into Gaza.
Yet Mr X was granted sanctuary and apparently able to operate under deep cover as an IT consultant living in the suburbs of a large English city….
Today, he faces extradition to Germany where he is accused of being a leading figure in a plot to attack Jewish community centres, Israeli diplomats and pro-Israel demonstrations there or in neighbouring Austria last October.
National Crime Agency (NCA) officers arrested Mr X in central London last November after Mossad and Germany’s security and intelligence services learnt of the planned attack. Berlin worked with partners in Austria, Denmark and the UK to detain seven suspects and gather weapons including an AK47 assault rifle. Mr X is accused of transporting weapons including handguns and live ammunition to a storage facility in Vienna, according to a German indictment.
The indictment says he pre-recorded a video in which he appeared masked and armed in front of a Hamas flag, describing the planned attack as an act of retribution on behalf of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, its military wing. A law enforcement source claimed he was an “essential” figure in the plot.
Only a few days ago police foiled a “fairly imminent” attack against the Jewish community in Manchester where two men were killed at a synagogue during an assault by a jihadist armed with a knife and a fake suicide vest last year on Yom Kippur.
Despite the international publicity generated by the European case — considered one of the worst terror plots in Germany’s postwar history — Mr X cannot be identified for the time being.
Last year, his lawyer argued identifying him would prejudice a separate criminal case for which he is awaiting trial in the UK, where he remains in custody.
In response, a judge at Westminster magistrates’ court originally granted him anonymity for 100 years. The duration of the legal order was only amended on Thursday after it was queried by The Sunday Times, meaning Mr X can be named once the separate proceedings are completed….
The Home Office, MI5 and MI6 are likely to face questions as to how Mr X was able to build his life in Britain, and whether his recent activities were being monitored.
Well yes.
Over the previous two decades, the UK had become a destination for leaders of Hamas and the Islamist group from which it evolved, the Muslim Brotherhood. Britain had not sanctioned Hamas in its entirety — its terror arm was proscribed but its political wing remained untouched until 2021 to preserve diplomatic back channels — and members regularly cited persecution by the Egyptian authorities to claim asylum.
In 2015 Mr X claimed asylum and was granted indefinite leave to remain by the Home Office.
“Comments are not enabled for this article”. In case people start saying nasty things about the Home Office, and our glorious legal system.
Adrian Hilton on X:
So.. a known Hamas operative named Mohammed Naim applied for asylum in the UK, was granted indefinite leave to remain, gained British citizenship, changed his name numerous times, proceeded to orchestrate acts of terrorism, and was then granted 100 years of anonymity. And we don’t know the name of any minister, caseworker, lawyer, special unit, or tribunal judge who advanced his case, carried out vetting, or made any of these decisions. And we only know about him now because of the determination of an intrepid journalist and newspaper. Why hasn’t he been stripped of his British citizenship and deported? Why are we giving sanctuary to known terrorists? Why are we protecting their identities for a century? Are we mad? This is not a conspiracy with no names, so who exactly is responsible?
We’ll never know. They’ll all be retiring to Spain on a six-figure pension…
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