تقارير من 3 صحف إسرائيلية وواحد من الشرق الأوسط تذكر أن المخابرات الإسرائيلية نقلت لبريطانيا معلومات خطيرة عام 2015 تمكنت من خلالها السلطات في لندن مصادرة اطنان من المتفجرات في منزل تابع لحزب الله/U.K. Seized Tons of Explosive Materials Linked to Hezbollah in 2015, Report Says
تكتم بريطاني على «مخطط إرهابي» لـ«حزب الله» تفادياً لإفشال مفاوضات الاتفاق النووي في 2015 لندن – بيروت: «الشرق الأوسط»/11 حزيران/2019
كشفت تقارير إعلامية بريطانية أمس أن لندن تكتمت على «مخطط إرهابي» لـ«حزب الله» اللبناني تفادياً لإفشال المفاوضات حول الاتفاق النووي مع إيران في عام 2015. وأشارت صحيفة «ديلي تلغراف»، أمس، إلى أن «متطرفين على علاقة بـ(حزب الله) المدعوم من إيران، خزنوا مواد تدخل في صناعة قنابل في لندن عام 2015، في قضية ظلت مخفية عن العامة»، تفادياً، كما يعتقد بعض الأوساط، لعدم إفشال المفاوضات النووية مع إيران آنذاك.
وقالت المصادر إن «الشرطة البريطانية وجهاز المخابرات الداخلية (إم آي – 5) اكتشفا الآلاف من عبوات الثلج التي تستخدم لمرة واحدة، تحتوي على ثلاثة أطنان من نترات الأمونيوم»، مؤكدة أن «التحقيقات السرية التي قادتها المخابرات وجهاز مكافحة المتفجرات البريطاني لأكثر من 3 سنوات، خلصت إلى وجود علاقة بين ميليشيا (حزب الله) المدعومة من إيران، وعناصر تم اعتقالهم في 2015، أثناء تخزينهم أطناناً من المواد المتفجرة في مصنع للقنابل، على مشارف العاصمة لندن».وفيما لاذ «حزب الله» بالصمت ولم يصدر أي تعليق أو ردّ على هذا الاتهام، رأت مصادر مقرّبة منه، أن «التقرير البريطاني يفتقر إلى المصداقية والواقعية». واعتبرت أن «الإعلان عن هذا التقرير في هذا التوقيت جزء من حملة الضغط الغربية على حزب الله وإيران».
UK exposed Hezbollah explosives in London in 2015, with Mossad intel Jerusalem Post/June 10/2019 تقرير من الجيروزالم بوست: بريطانيا صادرت متفجرات لحزب الله سنة 2015
U.K. Seized Tons of Explosive Materials Linked to Hezbollah in 2015, Report Says تقرير من الهآرتس: بريطاني صادرت سنة 2015 أطناناً من المواد المتفجرة التي كانت بحوزة أحد التابعين لحزب الله Haaretz/June 10/2019
Israeli officials: Mossad tipped UK off in 2015 Hezbollah bomb plot Ynetnews/June 10/2019 تقرير من يدعوت احرنوت: الموساد الإسرائيلي كان حذر سنة 2015 السلطات في لندن من مؤامرة لحزب الله هدفها تفجيرات إراهابية في بريطانيا
Confirmation comes on heels of Sunday Telegraph report that Iranian-backed terror group was laying groundwork for future terror attacks, including storing large quantities of chemicals used in explosives
Israeli officials confirmed Monday that the Mossad intelligence agency provided information that led British law enforcement to thwart a 2015 plot by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah to attack targets in the UK.
The tip-off apparently led British police to the north London locations where thousands of disposable ice packs containing ammonium nitrate, used in bomb-making, were reportedly being kept as part of preparations for future attacks.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the UK did not press charges against the sole suspect in the investigation, but released him on bail and later decided not to prosecute.
The report says that Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence agency and London’s Metropolitan Police, acting on information provided by a foreign government, found a stockpile of ammonium nitrate commonly used in bomb making concealed in thousands of disposable ice packs in a location in north London. Israel on Monday apparently confirmed that it was the foreign government.
The Telegraph said that there were no signs that Britain would have been a target of the future attacks.
A man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts on behalf of Hezbollah, but was released without charge.
The Telegraph speculated that the incident was not made public because Downing Street did not wish to disrupt the newly signed Iranian nuclear deal. Iran is a major sponsor of Hezbollah activities.
The paper reported that the London plot was part of a larger plan by Hezbollah to attack targets around the world. Similar plots were foiled in Thailand, Cyprus and New York.
The paper higthlights the similarities between the London investigation and the Cyprus case, which also uncovered in 2015 and involved a confessed Hezbollah agent being found with 8.2 tons of ammonia nitrate stored in disposable ice packs.
Sources told the Telegraph that the British plot was in very early stages and no targets had been selected. The report said British intelligence had hoped to establish what Hezbollah was planning and did not disrupt the plot immediately.
Hezbollah is considered a terror organization by Israel, the U.S. and the Arab League. Britain blacklisted Hezbollah’s military wing in 2008 and earlier this year banned the entire organization under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
U.K. Seized Tons of Explosive Materials Linked to Hezbollah in 2015, Report Says تقرير من الهآرتس: بريطاني صادرت سنة 2015 أطناناً من المواد المتفجرة التي كانت بحوزة أحد التابعين لحزب الله Haaretz/June 10/2019
A report in the Daily Telegraph reveals three metric tons of ammonium nitrate were seized outside London after Westminster was tipped by a ‘foreign government
British intelligence seized tons of explosive materials linked to the Lebanese-based Hezbollah shi’ite organization outside London in 2015, the Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday.
The report reveals that MI5 and the Metropolitan police raided four properties in northwest London, uncovering three metric tons of ammonium nitrate and arresting a man on suspicion of plotting terrorism.
The Telegraph notes that the amount of ammonium nitrate found, a common ingredient in homemade bombs, was more than the amount used in the Oklahoma City bombings which left 168 dead.
According to the report, a foreign government had warned Britain of the group’s activity. “MI5 worked independently and closely with international partners to disrupt the threat of malign intent from Iran and its proxies in the U.K.,” an intelligence source told the paper.
Then-Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May were reportedly briefed personally on the event. The information was however kept secret.
A “well-placed source” told the Telegraph that the suspect arrested at the scene was released without charge due to the fact that the plot had “been disrupted by a covert intelligence operation rather than seeking a prosecution.”
The report further speculates the incident was kept secret by the U.K. in order to keep the Iran nuclear deal afloat due to the fact that Tehran is a major supporter of the Lebanese Shi’ite group.
In February, Britain looked to classify Hezbollah’s political wing as a terror group. Although its military wing was outlawed respectively in 2001 and 2008, the U.K. said it was looking to add the group in its entirety to a list of banned terror organizations. The U.S., Israel and the Arab league also consider the group a terror organization.
UK exposed Hezbollah explosives in London in 2015, with Mossad intel Jerusalem Post/June 10/2019 تقرير من الجيروزالم بوست: بريطانيا صادرت متفجرات لحزب الله سنة 2015جراء معلومات من المخابرات الإسرائيلية
Hezbollah is an Islamist and militant group based in Lebanon.
Radicals linked to Iranian-backed Hezbollah were caught stashing tons of explosive materials in northwest London in a secret British bomb factory, M15 and Metropolitan Police officers discovered in 2015, only months after the UK signed on to the Iran nuclear deal.
Israeli media reports claim that Israeli officials confirmed the Mossad provided the intelligence for the operation.
According to a breaking report by The Daily Telegraph, thousands of disposable ice packs were found in the factory that contained ammonium nitrate, an ingredient for homemade bombs.
The report said that the raid was hidden from the public for years, including from MPs who were debating the Hezbollah ban earlier this year. It also questioned whether senior figures in the British government did so as to not impact the Iran nuclear deal.
The raid, a joint operation by MI5 operatives and the Met Police, included four properties overall, while a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of terrorist-related activity.
“The Security Service and police work tirelessly to keep the public safe from a host of national security threats,” said Ben Wallace, UK minister for security and economic crime. “Necessarily, their efforts and success will often go unseen.”
The discovery was considered so serious that then-prime minister David Cameron and then-home secretary Theresa May were personally notified.
According to the investigation by The Telegraph, the factory in London was not an isolated cell but is being seen as part of a wider international plot by Hezbollah to lay the basis for future attacks, including the discovery of cells in New York, Thailand, and Cyprus, where a 26-year-old was caught with 65,000 ice packs in a basement and later admitted to being a member of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was only banned as an organization in the UK in February, more than three years after the discovery of the factory. The United States, Israel, Canada, the Arab League and the European Union consider Hezbollah a terrorist group.
*Alex Winston contributed to this report.
