Terrorist released in US in reward for alleged cooperation

14 Feb, 2011 23:35 / Updated 13 years ago

A terrorist accused of training the leader of the 2005 London bombings has been released from prison in the US after less than five years.

Mohammed Babar admitted to setting up a training camp in Pakistan and to connections with senior al-Qaeda figures.The Pakistani American's early release prompted claims by the UK's Guardian newspaper that he was a US informant.According to journalist and author Shiv Malik, the American government claims Babar has helped them to find and prosecute a dozen people across the world. They call his release a reward for his cooperation.However, the US probation service concluded that Babar was still dangerous and deserved 30 more years in prison, explains Malik. “But the judge and the American prosecution service took a different view and decided they would give him a sentence essentially of time served, and that’s what the US government argued for and the judge accepted the argument. So there might be something else going on here,” said Malik.