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MI5 spies dressed in disguise testify in British shopping centre bomb plot trial

One spy wore a John Lennon-style dark brown wig and thin-rimmed spectacles.

BRITISH SPIES WORKING for MI5 intelligence agency donned wigs and makeup today to testify against a Pakistani Al-Qaeda suspect on trial in New York.

The accused is on trial for allegedly plotting to blow up a British shopping centre.

Three surveillance officers, identified as 1661, 1488 and 1498, detailed how they followed the defendant, Abid Naseer, in March and April 2009 in the cities of Manchester and Liverpool in northern England.

Wigs and beards 

The two men and one woman wore heavy black and dark-brown wigs and partially shielded their eyes behind spectacles. The men also wore beards.

The agents said they followed the defendant, codenamed “small panel,” as part of Operation Pathway as he visited a shopping centre in Manchester, allegedly the target of the plot, a mosque and other locations.

US government prosecutors say Naseer helped Al-Qaeda plan an attack on the Manchester shopping centre as part of coordinated attacks targeting the New York subway and a Danish newspaper.

They called it one of the most serious terror plots since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

British Terror Suspect Trial Abid Naseer is accused of being an al-Qaida operative and is acting as as his own attorney. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Naseer denies the charges and faces life in prison if convicted.

The surveillance officers said they followed the defendant in the company of two other men, codenamed Happy Skater and Glass Pendant.

The trial in a US federal court in Brooklyn allowed the defendant, who is representing himself in court, to cross-examine the first spy, who wore a John Lennon-style dark brown wig and thin-rimmed spectacles.

Crucially to the government’s case, the officer said he had never seen the defendant in the company of a woman. The defense argues that Naseer was embarked on a quest to get married and not carry out the attack.

Al-Qaeda 

Naseer was extradited from Britain in 2013 and is charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, commit murder abroad and supporting Al-Qaeda, among other charges.

He was first arrested in 2009 in Britain with 11 other men suspected of preparing an attack against the Manchester mall.

They were released without charge, but Naseer was arrested for a second time in July 2010 at the request of Brooklyn prosecutors, who accused him of participating in the plot to attack the New York subway in 2009.

© AFP, 2015.

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    Mute Modern Irish Dad
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    May 27th 2020, 2:42 PM

    As we go on
    We remember
    All the times we
    Had together
    And as our lives change
    Come whatever
    We will still be
    Friends forever

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    Mute JoyMonkey
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    May 27th 2020, 2:51 PM

    @Modern Irish Dad: Careful, he got into the gin again.

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    Mute IRL77
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    May 28th 2020, 11:14 AM

    @Modern Irish Dad: the lockdown has finally kicked in!

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    Mute Daniel Wilson
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    May 27th 2020, 3:06 PM

    Like a teacher is going to be arsed with the hassle of failing the rubbish students

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    Mute alan
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    May 27th 2020, 3:50 PM

    @Daniel Wilson: there are no longer fail grades

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    Mute Tadhg
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    May 27th 2020, 4:07 PM

    @Daniel Wilson: O8 right there.

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    Mute Gearóid Ó Tuama
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    May 27th 2020, 9:18 PM

    @alan: yes there are and teachers are obliged to fail students.

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    Mute Dáinéil Ó hÍobhair
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    May 28th 2020, 6:34 PM

    @Daniel Wilson: The teacher must abide my a rigorous process of awarding grades based on multiple factors. I should know as I’m a teacher currently in the process of awarding predicted grades for my own students. Those who haven’t lifted a finger over the past two years are likely to fail.

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    Mute Marie Broomfield
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    May 27th 2020, 5:04 PM

    Thanks for the info. didn’t know students had to register and within two days!

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