A mercenary working on behalf of the United Arab Emirates carried out a covert surveillance operation against prominent British Muslim activist Anas Altikriti in London, according to an investigation by ITV News.
ITV reports that Abraham Golan, a Hungarian-Israeli dual citizen and former French Foreign Legion soldier, travelled to London in December 2016 while being paid by the UAE. Golan headed Spear Operations Group, a private security company that had previously recruited Western military veterans for operations in Yemen.
According to ITV, the London operation targeted Altikriti, a British academic, hostage negotiator and chief executive of the Cordoba Foundation. Messages and documents reviewed by the broadcaster reportedly included photographs of Altikriti’s home and vehicle, details of his workplace and maps showing likely routes between his home and office.
The investigation found that Golan approached a British consultant and offered him as much as £100,000 to assist with the operation, including helping arrange a meeting with Altikriti under a false pretext.
The consultant told ITV that he became increasingly concerned about the purpose of the operation after meeting Golan and a former US special forces operative. During one meeting, the associate allegedly made a throat-cutting gesture while discussing what could happen to Altikriti, leading the consultant to fear that the surveillance could ultimately develop into an assassination operation. ITV stresses that the evidence does not establish that an order to kill Altikriti was issued by the Emirati government.
