Agent paid £40k to round up witnesses

TWO years ago it was revealed how an Iraqi agent was paid nearly £40,000 a year by the Ministry of Defence to help the families of suspected insurgents killed by British soldiers.

Abu Jamal, 59, took statements from witnesses and ferried them to Lebanon to give video evidence to the Iraq Historical Allegations Team.

He was so busy he recruited his son Jamal Alshiraida, 28, and another colleague to help with all the paperwork. A grieving widow claimed Jamal also knocked on her door to persuade her to claim compensation from the UK – one of 1,000 cases handed over to Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day over a decade.

When the Mail tracked down the firm in Basra, it was winning up to 20 clients a week, with Mr Alshiraida saying ‘I enjoy my job’. They were later sacked by the MoD in a victory for the paper.