Ils avaient proposé à Michael Adebolajo d'être espion pour le MI5

[Guest L'étrangère]

One of the fanatics accused of killing soldier Lee Rigby was asked to spy for MI5, a friend claimed yesterday.

 

Michael Adebolajo, 28, bragged he was approached to turn informant six months ago but refused.

 

His pal Abu Nusaybah wrote on Twitter: “Did u know* Woolwich suspect Michael Adebolajo was approached by MI5 Just over 6months ago to work as a Spy, He refused ?”

 

Mr Nusaybah was later interviewed on BBC’s Newsnight where he repeated his claims.

 

But as he finished, he was dramatically led away by three counter terrorism officers.

 

Last night Scotland Yard confirmed “a 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

 

“The man has been taken to a South London police station, where he remains in custody.

 

"Search warrants are being executed at two residential addresses in East London.”

 

A security source said Mr Nusaybah’s MI5 claim was “plausible”.

 

The source added: “It is not uncommon for MI5 to approach suspects.

 

"Either they continue with what they are doing then their lives will be made very difficult, or you can speak to us.”

 

Expert Anthony Glees also confirmed the tactic.

 

He said: “There is only a very small number of MI5 officers who come from a Muslim, Asian or Afro-Caribbean background, so they have their alternative and that is turning people into sources.”

 

The authorities are now probing Mr Nusaybah’s claims to see if any offer could have contributed to 25-year-old Lee’s murder in Woolwich, South East London.

 

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Politicians and experts yesterday backed the intelligence services amid claims they allowed the two suspects to slip through the net.

 

MI5 spooks admitted Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, 22, were known to them, with Adebolajo reported to have cropped up in “several investigations”.

 

But the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, said it was “difficult” in a free society to control everyone.

 

And former MI6 officer Richard Barrett added the suspects “probably didn’t have any intention to commit a crime like this until relatively recently”.

 

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Michael Adebolajo profile

 

Adebolajo was transformed in just a few years from a friendly and polite schoolboy into a hate-filled terrorist.

 

He was born in 1984 and came from a devout and loving Christian family but rebelled in his teens.

 

Former neighbour Kemi Ibrahim-Adeoti, 45, said Adebolajo once threw a brick at his own parents’ car window after he got involved with a gang of youths from East London.

 

Kemi, who lives in Romford, Essex said: “Like any parents would do, they were trying to put him on a straight path but he rebelled against it.”

 

Graham Silverton, 63, who lived two doors down from the family, said Adebolajo assaulted a girl after a petty row.

 

He said: “A previous neighbour went to retrieve a ball. When Michael answered the door he gave her a load of abuse and punched her in the mouth.”

 

A female neighbour, who asked not to be identified, she was told Adebolajo spat in the girl’s face before he punched her.

 

She added: “I looked out the window and he was in his front garden in a rage. The police came but I don’t think he was arrested.”

 

A former school pal revealed Adebolajo liked James Bond video games.

 

He said: “Michael was as British as they come, but he’s obviously got mixed up in the wrong crowd.

 

"He used to be a nice bloke. He loved playing 007 shoot-’em-ups on his Nintendo.”

 

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Another ex-schoolfriend said she knew Adebolajo from Marshalls Park school in Romford.

 

She said: “He was funny, hilarious. "He was a down to earth, nice guy, there was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing you would have thought obviously this would have happened.”

 

She said his mum was strict and a regular churchgoer who dressed in traditional West African clothes most Sundays.

 

But she said in his final years at the school, he became involved with a criminal Nigerian gang from outside school.

 

She said: “We used to go around the house and there used to be 20 black guys and they would walk around the streets.

 

"They were stealing people’s phones and that and they had knives.”

 

She said that he used to carry a knife as part of his criminal activities.

 

Adebolajo studied Sociology at the University of Greenwich and began attending meetings of the now banned Islamist organisation Al Muhajiroun in 2004.

 

His parents Tina, 54, and Anthony, 56, moved him to a village in Lincolnshire after becoming concerned he was becoming radicalised.

 

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Woolwich attack: Michael Adebolajo's friend arrested after claiming suspect was asked to spy for MI5 - Mirror Online