UK Government kept discovery of tons of Hizballah-linked explosives secret, possibly to avoid upsetting Iran
It has emerged that the Government hushed up its discovery of tons of explosive-making chemicals stockpiled by Hizballah-linked terrorists in London in 2015, and additionally the Government nonetheless resisted proscribing Hizballah until this year.
According to an extensive investigation by The Daily Telegraph, Hizballah operatives stockpiled thousands of ice packs containing ammonium nitrate at a secret bomb factory on the outskirts of London.
The disclosure followed a three-month investigation by The Daily Telegraph in which more than 30 current and former officials in Britain, America and Cyprus were approached and court documents were obtained.
One source told the newspaper that the plot was “proper organised terrorism” while another said that enough explosive materials were stored to do “a lot of damage.” Well-placed sources, however, said there was no evidence Britain would have been the target.
It was revealed that the plot was uncovered by MI5 and the Metropolitan Police in the autumn of 2015, reportedly after a tip-off from the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, according to Israeli media.
The Daily Telegraph reported that three businesses and a home were raided in North West London and a man in his forties was arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorism before being released without charge. North West London is home to a large Jewish community.
Eventually a decision was taken not to bring charges. It is understood by the newspaper that investigators were confident that they had disrupted the plot and gained useful information about Hizballah’s activities in Britain and overseas.
The discovery was reportedly so serious that the then Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May, were personally briefed on it.
However, MPs were kept in the dark even when they were debating in the House of Commons whether to proscribe Hizballah in its entirety.
During Parliamentary debates on banning Hizballah, MPs were deprived of critical information about the terrorist plot. It gives the perception that the primary concern of the Government was about the diplomacy surrounding the controversial nuclear deal with Iran, as Iran sponsors Hizballah. The discovery came just months after the UK signed up to the deal.
This will leave the Jewish community feeling vulnerable.
Hizballah seeks the extermination of Jews. Its Secretary-General could not have been plainer when he said: “If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”
Hizballah has acted on its murderous mantra, bombing Jewish civilians from Buenos Aires to Burgas, and it has even been blamed for two bombings targeting Jews in London in 1994. Its most notorious atrocity was the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association Jewish centre in Buenos Aires Argentina in 1994, in which 85 people were killed.
In February this year, Hizballah was completely proscribed by the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, with the support of the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. This followed a gruelling effort over several years by Campaign Against Antisemitism and our allies.
Until then, the British Government had distinguished between Hizballah’s “military wing” and “political wing”, even though Hizballah mocked the Government and said that no such distinction exists. The loophole enabled brazen shows of support for Hizballah, including at previous “Al Quds Day” parades where pro-Hizballah supporters marched through central London waving Hizballah flags and placards with “We Are All Hizballah.”
This year’s “Al Quds Day” parade saw open antisemitism from attendees, who marched under banners declaring that it is a “crime” or “racism” to support Zionism, the movement to grant Jews the same right to self-determination as all peoples are granted under Article 1 of the United Nations Charter. Some compared Zionism to Nazism. No support for Hizballah was visible this year because of the proscription.
