A senior Tory MP today called for an investigation into whether MI5 mistakenly recruited al-Qaida sympathisers.Patrick Mercer, the chairman of the counter-terrorism subcommittee, said six Muslim recruits had been thrown out of the service because of serious concerns over their pasts.The MP said he was writing to the home secretary, Alan Johnson, to call for an investigation into the matter.Two of the six men allegedly attended al-Qaida training camps in Pakistan while the others had unexplained gaps of up to three months in their CVs.Mercer told the Telegraph that the September 11 2001 terror attacks on the US should have prompted the British government to expand the security services, but this did not happen until the bombings on London's transport network on 7 July 2005."It took an attack on this country for such measures to be started," he said."But at this point it was an unseemly rush of which our enemies, not unsurprisingly, took advantage."
A senior Tory MP today called for an investigation into whether MI5 mistakenly recruited al-Qaida sympathisers.
Patrick Mercer, the chairman of the counter-terrorism subcommittee, said six Muslim recruits had been thrown out of the service because of serious concerns over their pasts.
The MP said he was writing to the home secretary, Alan Johnson, to call for an investigation into the matter.
Two of the six men allegedly attended al-Qaida training camps in Pakistan while the others had unexplained gaps of up to three months in their CVs.
Mercer told the Telegraph that the September 11 2001 terror attacks on the US should have prompted the British government to expand the security services, but this did not happen until the bombings on London's transport network on 7 July 2005.
"It took an attack on this country for such measures to be started," he said.
"But at this point it was an unseemly rush of which our enemies, not unsurprisingly, took advantage."
A senior Tory MP has asked the home secretary whether al-Qaeda sympathisers were mistakenly recruited by MI5.Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Home Affairs counter-terror sub-committee, said sources told him six had sought to infiltrate the security service. Four were ejected at the initial vetting stage but two got "further down the system", he told the BBC. The Home Office declined to comment but Whitehall officials firmly rejected the claims, saying there was no evidence. Mr Mercer said: "What concerns me is that not all of these individuals... have necessarily been nailed and that is why I've written to the home secretary to seek his reassurance."
A senior Tory MP has asked the home secretary whether al-Qaeda sympathisers were mistakenly recruited by MI5.
Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Home Affairs counter-terror sub-committee, said sources told him six had sought to infiltrate the security service.
Four were ejected at the initial vetting stage but two got "further down the system", he told the BBC.
The Home Office declined to comment but Whitehall officials firmly rejected the claims, saying there was no evidence.
Mr Mercer said: "What concerns me is that not all of these individuals... have necessarily been nailed and that is why I've written to the home secretary to seek his reassurance."
