Al-Qaeda assassin worked for MI6', secret cables claim

An alleged al-Qaeda militant suspected of bombing a luxury hotel and two churches in Pakistan in 2002 was an informer for MI6, it has been claimed.

Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili was detained at Guantanamo Bay between 2003 and last year.

The Guardian claims to have seen secret Wikileaks files in which he is described as an al-Qaeda "assassin".

Other Wikileaks files suggest a mosque in north London served as a "haven" for Islamic extremists.

According to the files, 35 men held at Guantanamo Bay had gone to fight against Western forces in Afghanistan after being indoctrinated in Britain. The US documents identify two preachers at the Finsbury Park Mosque - Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada - as key recruiters.

Those revelations are contained in a Daily Telegraph report on separate secret files which suggested London was the hub of a global terror network.

The files, written by US military commanders, say that by the late 1990s the mosque was attracting young men from around the world, who were radicalised before being sent to training camps in Afghanistan.

It said the 35 detainees had passed through Finsbury Park Mosque as well as other centres such as Regent's Park and East London mosques and a rented room above a pub near Baker Street.

US intelligence officials said Finsbury Park served as "an attack planning and propaganda production base" for al-Qaeda.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said some of the files show MI6 in a very bad light.

He said: "A lot of it doesn't surprise me... In my view they completely underestimated how dangerous recruiters and proselytisers like Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza were."

The Guardian says Mr Hamlili was described in his Guantanamo assessment file as a "facilitator, courier, kidnapper and assassin for al-Qaeda".

US interrogators believed he was also a British intelligence informer.