Britain ignored warnings from friendly governments about Abu Qatada’s links with terrorist groups and refused to arrest him. Qatada boasted to MI5 how he could prevent terrorist attacks in Britain and hoodwinked agents into believing he would expose dangerous extremists arriving, while all along he was setting up a safe haven for his terror organisation in the country. A security source in Madrid said: “How much violence and bloodshed could have been prevented if Britain had heeded the warnings about this man a long time ago.” Authorities in many countries asked to question Qatada about his links to al-Qaeda, but were refused. A Jordanian, Qatada arrived in Britain with a forged passport in 1993 claiming asylum. Jordan told Britain he had been convicted of terror attacks in Amman seven months before September 11. Spanish investigators produced evidence of how a militant in custody in Madrid – Abu Dahdah – had visited the cleric more than 25 times, bringing money and recruits.
