Odd features of the London police raid at Forest Gate

On 11 June 2006, in the UK Sunday Telegraph, Ian Duncan Smith, the former leader of the UK Conservative Party, wrote about the Forest Gate terror raid in East London.

Briefing wars won't stop the bombers

Duncan-Smith, whose constituency is next to Forest Gate, has noticed certain very odd features of the police raid.

Duncan-Smith writes:

First, after the pre-dawn raid on Lansdown Road, there was the reported shooting. Then rolling news showed vast numbers of armed police wandering around the cordoned-off area dressed in chemical suits. It was the worst possible nightmare, journalists told us: a chemical weapon, which the police, operating on a reliable tip-off, were searching for. People had been arrested.

The unofficial briefing was strong, and from the information given out by police sources it appeared that some sort of gun battle had taken place as officers moved in. Many would have concluded that this meant that those arrested were guilty and it was only a matter of time before the terrible weapon would be found.

Then the picture began to get cloudy, as the family said there were no weapons, guns or chemicals. Police sources retaliated by indicating that one brother had shot another as the police entered. The credentials of their informant, and the quality of the tip-off, were first class, the police hinted. More searching was required.

It was at this point I began to feel uneasy. My mind travelled back to last summer and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. I remembered the briefing war through the airwaves as police certainty and assurances were challenged and proved hideously wrong… and I began to wonder.

Suddenly, the news from Forest Gate changed as it emerged that a police officer might have shot one of the suspects. Confusion reigned. Then on Friday night, the suspects were released without charge.

While this was going on in London, we heard about an operation in Canada with the arrest of terrorist suspects in Ontario. Almost immediately there were raids in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and Manchester; follow-ups, we were told, to the Canadian operation. It was at this point that I was contacted by someone close to the Dewsbury events, raising concerns. One of the houses the police raided was the home of Yacub Munshi, a noted Islamic scholar.

However, I was also told that General Sir John Kiszely, a holder of the Military Cross and Director of the Defence Academy, had visited Mr Munshi at home four days earlier to discuss ways to improve relations between the Muslim community and British institutions. As I understand it, Mr Munshi is a highly respected figure in the community, someone who has preached peace and opposed the men of violence.

The person who passed me this information raised the concern among some... that ... extremists were using disinformation to sow discord....

Duncan-Smith, who is a friend of the military, fails to mention Operation Gladio, the Stay-Behind Groups and the Strategy of Tension.

Just before the police raid at Forest Gate, Britain was visited by two important people: Richard Perle and the US director of national intelligence John Negroponte.

The Forest Gate raid resulted from a 'tip-off to the police from an informant'. Early reports said that the tip-off to the police came from foreign sources. Perhaps they were American-Israeli sources?

aangirfan: Terror in Europe - The Stay Behind Groups run by the ...

The killing of de Menezes and Operation Gladio

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