MI5 Agents Disguised For New York Terror Trial
MI5 agents wearing disguises have been giving evidence in a New York court in the trial of a man accused of plotting multiple terrorist attacks in Britain.
The judge in the trial of Pakistani student Abid Naseer, who is accused of planning attacks on targets in Manchester, New York and Copenhagen, agreed the five agents should be allowed to wear a "light disguise" to protect their identities.
The first agent, identified by the code 1661, appeared before the jury wearing a blue suit and tie with a full dark beard and moustache, black hair that covered his ears in a 1970s style parted to the right, and wire-framed glasses.
The move will allow the jury to assess the witnesses' facial expressions. Although court artists are permitted to sketch the witnesses, they may not draw their faces and must only draw generic hair.
Speaking with a Manchester accent, the agent who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, said he had been a member of MI5 for eight years. It was not clear whether his beard was real, but he appeared to be a wearing a wig.
The agent told the court he had carried out surveillance on Naseer (code named 'Small Panel' in the operation) in Liverpool and Manchester for a month in 2009.
In Liverpool he followed him to a bus station, and in Manchester he observed him meeting with two other men known by the codenames 'Glass Pendant' and 'Happy Skater'.
He followed the three to a branch of Tesco where he observed them in the cosmetics aisle.
The agent was cross-examined by Naseer, who is defending himself, and who referred to himself in the third person as "the defendant" throughout.
He asked the agent: "Was anything you saw suspicious or alarming?" to which the agent answered "No".
The second agent, a woman identified by the number 1448, wore shoulder-length hair that may have been a wig, and black-framed glasses.
She said she had been in the service for 11 years, and observed Naseer working on a building site near Manchester Airport.
Naseer denies the charges.
