UAE-funded mercenary targeted British activist in covert London operation, ITV reports

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.

Altikriti told ITV that learning about the operation made him feel “physically sick”, particularly after discovering that photographs had been taken outside his home when his children were very young.

Police subsequently visited Altikriti and warned him that there was information indicating a possible threat to his life, ITV reported. Officers did not disclose the source or precise nature of the threat at the time.

The revelations come against the backdrop of the UAE’s long-running campaign against individuals and organisations it associates with the Muslim Brotherhood. The UAE placed the Cordoba Foundation on a list of proscribed organisations in 2014, although the foundation has denied having a formal affiliation with the movement.

Golan’s Spear Operations Group had already been linked to a UAE-backed assassination programme in Yemen. A lawsuit filed in the United States this year alleges that the company was paid around $1.5m a month, alongside bonuses, to target opponents of the UAE. Golan has previously acknowledged running a targeted assassination programme in Yemen and said it had been sanctioned by the UAE within the Saudi-led coalition.

Golan declined to provide ITV with a substantive response to its investigation, while his former US Navy SEAL associate did not respond to requests for comment. The UAE’s embassies in Britain and the United States also did not respond to ITV’s findings.

The UK Home Office told ITV that it does not comment on security and intelligence matters.

The investigation raises fresh questions over alleged foreign state-backed surveillance and covert activity targeting political figures and activists on British soil.