SALON

Wednesday, Dec 5, 2012 2:47 PM UTC

MI6 allegedly refused to kill al-Qaida leader

A Danish informant claims the British spy agency declined because it would have been against the law

By

Topics: GlobalPost, Denmark, al qaeda, Britain, MI6, ,

MI6 allegedly refused to kill al-Qaida leaderAnwar al-Awlaki(Credit: AP/SITE Intelligence Group)
This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.

Global Post A Danish informant said that the British spy agency MI6 allegedly refused to kill Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki because it was against the law.

Morten Storm, a former biker who was hired by MI6 to infiltrate Al Qaeda, converted to Islam and dabbled with radical Islamism before turning into a spy for Western governments.

Storm, 36, says that after telling MI6 of al-Awlaki’s whereabouts they refused to kill him, stating that they were an intelligence agency that does not involve itself with killings abroad, said the Daily Mail.

UPI reported that Storm was told that al-Awlaki did not threaten British lives and therefore Britain could not kill him.

The US and Europe believed that al-Awlaki was a major player in Al Qaeda, inspiring the so-called “underwear bomber” and the 7/7 bus attacks in London. An American citizen, he was killed in a CIA drone strike in September 2011.

Storm was said to be key in tracking down al-Awlaki by introducing the Al Qaeda leader to his future wife.

The Danish national has fallen out of favor with the spy agencies for revealing the plot, said CNN.

The CIA has maintained that it was not the intelligence given to them by Storm that led to al-Awlaki’s killing but instead information from a “parallel operation.”

But Storm says he is angry that he was not credited for the killing, and that he came forward because he feared a CIA reprisal after the events.

Storm has a checkered background that includes numerous criminal charges and drug use. He is said to have converted to Islam in prison to escape a life of crime, reported the Telegraph. He had his change of heart in 2006 and became a double agent for the Danish secret service, PET.

More News Desk.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

Salon is proud to feature content from GlobalPost, an awarding-winning international news site that focuses on original reporting from journalists stationed around the world. GlobalPost combines traditional journalistic values with the power of new media to offer a fresh perspective on global developments.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Journalists file suit against Manning's trial secrecy: Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents
115 points116 points | comment
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford food
103 points104 points | 8 comments
vote
Journalists file suit against Manning trial secrecy: Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents
56 points57 points | 3 comments
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food
50 points51 points | 16 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
51 points52 points | 65 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations