Glen Jenvey

Glen Jenvey, born 9 April 1965, is a British journalist who states that he has devoted much of his time to infiltrating, undermining and exposing radical Islamic groups. He also states that he has infiltrated the Tamil Tigers, working for them in London.[1][2] Jenvey says he used the internet to infiltrate terrorist organizations, and to have developed a relationship with Abu Hamza al-Masri through these means (via Jenvey's Islamic News website, which posed as a genuine extremist site). Recorded film footage with James Ujaama was, he claims, obtained through similar means. Jenvey said that his tapes, in which Hamza called for Jihad, were responsible for Hamza's arrest and trial.[3][4] In the event, Hamza was convicted only of charges related to possession of the Encyclopedia of Afghan Jihad. Recently, it has been reported that Jenvey has converted to Islam, and taken down his YouTube page.[5]

On 25 October 2009, a video (now taken down) was posted on the popular video hosting service, LiveLeak.com, which shows Jenvey admitting that his conversion to Islam was fake and was part of a year-long undercover research effort to gather evidence for a forthcoming book he plans to release.[6]

Jenvey appeared in the film Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.[7] He was interviewed by the BBC's Newsnight programme on 17 April 2008,[8] in his Whiteparish, Wiltshire home about his internet monitoring activities. He had previously appeared on the programme in 2006.

Criticism and controversy

Jenvey has been accused of manufacturing evidence of Islamist threats. On 7 January 2009 the UK tabloid newspaper The Sun ran an exclusive front-page story saying that participants in a discussion on Ummah.com, a British Muslim internet forum, had made a "hate hit list" of British Jews to be targeted by extremists over the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict. The story, which Jenvey had sold to news agency South West News Service featured Jenvey as an 'anti-terror expert', stating, "Those listed [on the forum] should treat it very seriously. Expect a hate campaign and intimidation by 20 or 30 thugs."

The UK magazine Private Eye, later said that Jenvey, posting to the forum under the pseudonym "Abuislam", had in fact created the only evidence that pointed to anything other than a peaceful letter-writing campaign. The story has since been removed from The Sun's website following complaints to the UK's Press Complaints Commission.[9][10]

Sir Alan Sugar, who was named as a terror target in Jenvey's story, instituted legal action against The Sun for publishing the article on 23 February 2009.

Jenvey subsequently said he converted to Islam, and released a full apology for the story on 19 August 2009. His apology cited the "chance to install fear back in Jews who were killing Muslims" as his motive .But this was untrue as Jenvey was invited into British Islamic circles where he uncovered more links of terrorism in the UK.

On 31 December 2009, Jenvey was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred against Jews.[11]

External links

Articles and websites by Jenvey

References

  1. ↑ http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20061022_01
  2. ↑ Panther, Lewis (12 February 2006). "The Spy and The Terrorist: The Real Story". Global Politician. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  3. ↑ Holguin, Jaime (16 August 2004). "Man Behind Terror Big's Arrest". CBS Evening News. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  4. ↑ Presenters: Aaron Brown, Nic Robertson (2005-07-11). "Families Search for Loved Ones in London; How Can We Keep America Safe?". NewsNight with Aaron Brownhttp://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/11/asb.01.html |transcripturl= missing title (help). CNN.
  5. ↑ "http://malung-tv-news.blogspot.com/2009/06/glen-jenvey-reverts-to-islam.html".
  6. ↑ "Omar Jenvey confesses to being a fake Muslim".
  7. ↑ "Full cast and crew for Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West (2005)". The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  8. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHtRntXT4a4
  9. ↑ "How Extremism Works". Private Eye (No. 1228) (London: Pressdram Ltd). 2009-01-21. p. 4.
  10. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh; Brook, Stephen (28 January 2009). "Sun front-page story on 'terror target' Sir Alan Sugar under investigation". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  11. ↑ Taher, Abul (31 December 2009). "Glen Jenvey, man behind Sun's Sugar splash, arrested over religious hatred". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2009.