By Keiran Southern
The convicted former leader of an Islamist terror group has won a legal battle to sue British security services over his attempted deportation to Libya.
Ismael Kamoka, 51, was jailed in the UK in 2007 after he admitted funding the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and providing false passports.
The LIFG has been linked to Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi’s father as well as the father of Manchester man Mohammed Abdallah, who last week was convicted of joining Islamic State.
The British Government considered the group, which was set up to depose reviled dictator Colonel Gaddafi, a ‘risk to the national security of the United Kingdom’.
Ismael Kamoka, 51, a convicted former leader of an Islamist terror group, has won his legal battle to sue British security services over his attempted deportation to Libya
Kamoka, who now works at the Libyan embassy in London, has won a victory at the High Court after a judge ruled he and four other Libyans can sue MI5 and MI6 for their unlawful detention and the unlawful use of counter-terrorism control orders while the Home Office tried to secure their deportation, reports the Sunday Telegraph.
The Libyans argue secret documents discovered after Gaddafi was thrown from power show their detention and national security assessments were based on evidence gained from torture.
They could be set for payouts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages and legal costs and the UK government has already paid out £2million to a member of the LIFG.
They had accused MI6 of assisting his rendition to power during Gaddafi’s reign.
The Sunday Telegraph report eight former members of the LIFG have joined the legal action and are seeking compensation.
Kamoka works in a freelance capacity at the Libyan embassy in Kensington, west London, at the cultural affairs department.
In June he strongly denied being linked to the Manchester bombing in any way.
In a strongly worded statement published in Libyan Media, he condemned the attack, labeling it an ‘unorthodox understanding of what Islam is, let alone the bad impact that it had caused to Muslims and especially Libyans living in Britain.’
In 2008 a judge recommended Kamoka be deported but following his release from prison he was allowed to stay in the UK.
In the latest court hearing, Lord Justice Flaux rejected the Goverment’s attempts to block the men’s claim.
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