Anger over aid worker spy claim
THE parents of a Scottish aid worker killed in a botched rescue attempt by US Navy SEALs in Afghanistan, have dismissed claims she was an MI6 spy as ‘ludicrous and hurtful’.
Linda Norgrove, 36, from Uig on Lewis, was working on humanitarian projects for an international development company when she was kidnapped in the Kunar province.
She was killed by a grenade thrown by an elite US special forces soldier during a failed rescue attempt on October 8, 2010.
An article published on a US investigative journalism website has claimed that before the mission, the British Government secretly told US military planners about Miss Norgrove’s alleged relationship with MI6.
The piece, posted on The Intercept website, claims the Scot’s location was known because of her ‘spy’ activities, and four US military and intelligence sources supposedly confirmed her link with MI6.
The Foreign Office said it could not confirm or deny the claims and declined to comment any further, but Miss Norgrove’s family condemned the allegations as ‘ridiculous’.
In a statement her parents, John and Lorna, from Lewis, said: ‘The people who have fabricated this story did not know Linda. We were very close to her and kept in touch every week by Skype.
‘Linda was passionately against war, disliked the military with a vengeance and mostly sided with Afghans rather than Western governments. She loved her work, tirelessly striving to improve the lives of others by supporting projects which improved their environment. She was highly principled, would not compromise on her views and the suggestion that she was working for MI6 is both ludicrous and hurtful.’
The article on The Intercept website followed a two-year probe by investigative reporter Matthew Cole into US Navy unit SEAL Team 6, which carried out Miss Norgrove’s failed rescue and later became famous for killing Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Mr Cole accused the unit of a ‘pattern of criminal violence, mutilations and unjustified killings’ but its activities, he claimed, were covered up by US military chiefs.
Writing about the failed rescue bid, which was code-named Anstruther in honour of the Scots aid worker, he said the US military initially claimed she had been killed by one of her capnot
‘Both ludicrous and hurtful’
tors during the mission, which was authorised by then prime minister David Cameron.
Later, however, the Americans admitted that the fatal grenade was thrown by a Navy SEAL.
In his 14,000-word piece, Mr Cole states: ‘The operation commanded high-level interest because Norgrove, though in Afghanistan as an aid worker for DAI [Development Alternatives Incorporated], an American NGO [non-governmental organisation], secretly worked with Britain’s MI6, according to four US military and intelligence sources.
‘Two of these sources told me that the British Government informed SEAL Team 6 mission planners that Norgrove worked for the spy agency and that they had been tracking her movements since the abduction.’
In 2012, the aid worker’s former colleagues claimed in a BBC Alba documentary that Miss Norgrove had been told by her captors she would be killed and that she was only being held as a bargaining tool to secure the release of prisoners.
In addition, an Afghan colleague taken hostage with the Scot told Channel 4 News that the kidnappers were only interested in ransom money and the rescue attempt was ‘unnecessary and should not have put her life in danger’.
In 2015, an article in the Daily Mail suggested Miss Norgrove may have worked with the CIA and raised questions over the huge rescue operation launched to find her.
A spokesman for DAI stressed that claims about Miss Norgrove’s links with intelligence agencies were ‘unsourced allegations’, adding: ‘We have no knowledge of any such connection and no reason to believe there was one, and we remain thoroughly sceptical of this as of the previous claim.
‘We remember Linda for what she was: a cherished colleague and dedicated development professional, totally engaged on her agricultural development project and deeply committed to improving people’s lives.’
It is not unknown for intelligence services to use the delivering of aid as a front for operations – despite the risk this poses to charities and aid workers.
In 2011, it emerged that the CIA had recruited a senior doctor and organised a fake vaccination programme in a town in Pakistan where bin Laden was believed to be hiding.
Save the Children later had to evacuate eight aid workers from the country amid concerns for their safety, even though the charity vehemently denied any links to the bin Laden operation.
A charity to fund education, health and childcare in Afghanistan was established by Miss Norgrove’s parents in her memory. The Linda Norgrove Foundation has so far distributed £1million to help those affected by war in the country.