British resident Jamil el-Banna, 44, knew
Abu Qatada, a cleric accused of being al Qaida's spiritual
leader in Europe. In 2002 Mr Banna, a father of five from
London, was seized by the CIA and secretly flown to
Guantanamo Bay, after MI5 wrongly told the Americans that
his travelling companion was carrying bomb parts on a
business trip to Gambia. On Friday, his companion, Bisher
al-Ravi, was released without charge after four years in the
US detention camp, after it emerged that he had helped MI5
keep track of Qatada. But Mr Banna's incarceration in Cuba -
continues.
Note For File, date 31 October 2002
Subject Meeting with Abu Anas
[an Arabic version of Jamil
el-Banna's name]
Unannounced visit to Anas at home by ******[blacked
out name of M15 agent] and MPSB D/Sgt ****[name of
Metropolitan police special branch detective sergeant].
Anas welcoming and apparently friendly; denies any
involvement in extremist activity; concerned about being
arrested or turned back when leaving for Gambia, or being
excluded once outside the country; asks about progress of
application for British nationality and possibility of a
return of personal items seized during police raid last
year, shows no interest in resettlement package in return
for cooperation.
Detail
2. On 31 October at 0845hrs, I and *******of MPSB called at
Anas's home. This is a reasonably well maintained 1930s
semi, probably worth around £300,000 if the local estate
agents window is anything to go by. Parked on the drive at
the front was a small, silver-coloured car, displaying a
green L plate.
3. Anas opened the door himself, in Arabic,
I introduced us as Michael from the
British government and Andy from Scotland Yard and asked if
we could have a brief chat with him. He immediately invited
us in and took us into the living room at the back of the
house; his wife, dressed in traditional full length hijab,
but with the face uncovered, and three young children were
already in there so we waited in the corridor in case either
Anas or his wife were sensitive about us being in the same
room as her, but they beckoned us in and then said that they
were in the middle of checking Anas's blood sugar level –
for the last five days he had been suffering health problems
and had just been diagnosed by the doctor as having
diabetes.
Eventually the wife shooed the children out
but hovered around the door to listen to the conversation.
The meeting was conducted in Arabic throughout.
4 Anas asked me to repeat who we were and I
said that I was from the Security Service – Scotland Yard?
he queried; so I explained that Andy was from Scotland Yard
and that I was from the mukhaberaat [Arabic for secret
police] although it was important for him to understand that
we were not like the mukhaberaat in most Arab countries. He
immediately agreed with this comment.
5 [sic] I then said that, with the arrest of
Abu Qatada, we would be able to focus more attention on
other members and groups in the extremist community. Anas
immediately said that he was not a member of such a group,
although he conceded in response to my naming names that he
was a friend of Abu Qatada.
He explained that as a youth he had led a
dissolute life but had then rediscovered Islam and had been
to Afghanistan. It was there that he had met Qatada, whom he
considered to be a friend; there was no way that he would
allow Qatada's family to go without food or assistance
during Qatada's detention.
5 [sic] I told him that in addition to
increased focus on UK-based extremists, we were
investigating reports of terrorists based abroad who were
keen to mount attacks in the UK, possibly using biological
or chemical weapons. He agreed that such people were
correctly labelled terrorist.
I told him that the use of such techniques
would pose a threat to all residents of the UK, as
biological weapons would not differentiate between Muslims
and Christians, and that as the father of young children he
should be concerned by such a possibility. Both Anas and his
wife, who was standing by the door, agreed with this. She
then left to look after the children.
6 I continued saying that in the event of a
successful attack in the UK, it was not possible to predict
the government's reaction. It was quite possible that he
could find himself swept up in a further round of
detentions. He did, however, have a choice – he could
continue with his current life or ... at this point he
interrupted to ask what I meant by his current life. I told
him that I meant his association with members of the
extremist community and to also his involvement in criminal
activity, like his recent arrest and caution for petty
shoplifting in an Asda supermarket.
He laughed and shook my hand saying that I
knew everything. He went on to say that he was not involved
in any extremist activity, and, he did not believe that some
people he knew could be considered a threat to the UK and,
indeed, there was a fatwa saying that Muslims should respect
UK laws. I pointed out that there was also a fatwa which
declared that Muslims in the UK could consider themselves to
be in a state of jihad and could therefore take ghaneema
(spoils of war) from non-Muslims. He again laughed but did
not deny this.
7 He then went on to say that he was not
a well man: in addition to diabetes he had trouble with his
back due to beatings at the hands of the Jordanian
authorities. He was only interested in providing for his
children the opportunities that he himself had not had as a
child.
He assumed we knew about his business venture in Gambia with
Wahaab [al-Rawi, brother of Bisher], which he hoped would
prove profitable. He said he would be travelling the next
day and asked whether he would be arrested or turned back at
the airport. I said that if he had a valid travel document
he should be able to travel without a problem. He then asked
whether he would be able to get back into the country. I
repeated the travel document point.
8 I returned to the choice which he could
make: he could either continue as at present, with the risks
that entailed, or he could start a new life with a new
identity, new nationality, money to set himself up in
business and to provide for his family, and an opportunity
to move to a Muslim country where his children could be
brought up away from the bad influences in western society.
He asked if I wanted him to leave the UK. I
told him that that would be for him to decide but that I
could help him if that was what he wanted. He said that his
children were being brought up as British nationals, going
to normal English schools, his life was now in [the] UK.
He then asked about progress on his application for UK
nationality as he had completed the required years of
residency. I told him that this was a decision for the home
secretary; he queried whether the home secretary decided all
cases or only his. I told him that the home secretary
decided all cases.
I added that I was in a position to make
recommendations to the home secretary but that the final
decision rested with the home secretary. Anas asked if the
home secretary intended to grant his application; I said I
did not know but that, if we were asked for a view, we would
be obliged to report Anas's previous involvement in
Afghanistan and his association with persons currently
detained for extremist activities.
9. I again returned to the choice he had: if
he chose to help us by providing details of all his
activities and contacts, we would assist him to create a new
life for himself and his family. I told him that I did not
expect him to give me an immediate answer, it was an
important decision and he needed to think carefully about
it.
10 Anas then asked when he could expect the return of
the item during a police raid on his house some time ago; he
explained that his computer, videos, address books had all
been taken and not returned. He was particularly keen to get
family photographs back. I told him that I would try to find
out what was happening and would let him know.
11 Anas's wife had come back in by this time
and asked whether we wanted some tea, we declined saying
that we were ready to leave. Abu Anas saw us to the door and
waved us off cheerfully
12 Anas appeared cheerful and relaxed
throughout, although always ready to learn what we knew
about him. He maintained that he was not involved in any
extremist activity and was focused on his family's welfare.
He did not give any hint of willingness to cooperate with
us. His desire for British nationality and the security that
this would provide may be worth exploring further with him,
should he return to the UK. ****** will make enquiries of
S013 [Scotland Yard's antiterrorism branch] to establish the
status of Anas's possessions. It may be possible to arrange
for the return of some of these items, even in Anas's
absence, to generate some goodwill.
Explanations in italics are the
Guardian's own words
Last night supporters said Mr Banna should be
released immediately.
Brent Mickum, a US based lawyer who has visited him
in Guantanamo Bay, said the US had repeatedly questioned his client
about Qatada and had offered money and resettlement in the US for
him to testify against the cleric, who is currently in the Britain
and subject of a control order.
Concern about Mr Banna's health while in captivity
in Guantanamo has grown, with a deterioration in his mental
wellbeing and his eyesight worsening due to his diabetes.
Mr Banna's wife's local MP, the Liberal Democrat Sarah Teather, has
remained in close touch with her and her five children. Ms Teather
said: "Jamil el-Banna and Bisher al-Rawi were picked up and handed
over to the CIA on the basis of the same faulty intelligence passed
by British security services. Both men had been approached by MI5 to
work with them.
"These cases reflect very badly on the British government who have
used these men and their families as expendable pawns."
Last year, the Guardian reported that documents in
the case showed that wrong information had been passed by the UK
security services to the US before Mr Banna and his business
partners were arrested in Gambia. Those documents and the one
published today were obtained by lawyers for the men detained in
Guantanamo in a court case brought against the UK government.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said Britain would not press the
US for the release of Mr Banna because he was not a UK national.
They take the same view about eight other British
residents still in held in Guantanamo. An exception was made for Mr Rawi after it was alleged he had helped MI5 monitor a suspected
Islamist extremist.
Mr Banna was granted refugee status after arriving
in Britain in 1994 alleging he had been tortured in Jordan.
