The British government may have been complicit in ill-treatment of Michael Adebolajo, one of Lee Rigby’s killers, during his detention in Kenya, the intelligence and security committee has said.
The official inquiry into the circumstances leading up to Rigby’s murder also criticised evidence from the former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers, saying it was incorrect and that a document showing this was initially not given to the committee by the intelligence service.
Adebolajo alleged that he was beaten and on more than one occasion threatened with electrocution and rape during his detention in Kenya in 2010. The ISC said he had gone there to join extremists in neighbouring Somalia.
The implication: if MI6 hadn't been complicit in Adebolajo's torture, he might not have gone on to behead someone. British spies helped create one of the terrorists they use to justify their budgets and powers.
Its just another example of how the war on terror is a hugely counterproductive exercise which exacerbates rather than prevents terrorism. Sadly, the spies and generals who gain power and prestige from waging it and the politicians who have to appear "tough" seem incapable of understanding that. And its ordinary people, not those spies, generals and politicians, who pay the price.