Report: MI5 recruited al-Qaida leader

LONDON, July 27 (UPI) -- MI5 tried to recruit senior al-Qaida figure Abu Qatada as an informer in a bid to keep terror off the streets of Britain, it was reported Wednesday.

Documents seen by the Evening Standard state that the domestic intelligence agency sought to recruit Qatada in the hope that he "would not bite the hand that fed him" and "keep terrorism off the streets of the U.K."

Qatada, described as Osama bin Laden's "ambassador" in Europe, was arrested in October 2002 at a south London apartment and detained in Belmarsh prison. After a law lords' ruling last December that such indefinite detention was unlawful, Qatada was released on bail under stringent control orders.

It is expected he will be deported to Jordan under terms of a deal between London and Amman to deport extremists without fear of mistreatment.

The 45-year-old radical cleric, described by one judge as a "truly dangerous individual," is known to have given religious advice to shoebomber Richard Reid, who attempted to blow up a U.S. airliner in 2001.

Security experts have claimed for many years that Britain is a safe haven for extremists, leading the capital to be nicknamed "Londonistan."