The Robert Finlay Trilogy

by Matt Johnson

  Toni smiled as she recognised he was trying to veer off subject. ‘You’re a creature of habit, Howard. Keep coming back and, one day, somebody was bound to spot you.’

  ‘You followed me?’

  ‘You’ll never know. Now, shall we get back to the deaths of the ex-soldiers?’

  ‘It’s all in that book. The CIA ran a black op to supply the Mujahideen with weapons to fight the Soviet force occupying Afghanistan.’

  Toni smiled to herself. Her researcher had done well. She was about to repeat her question about ‘Al Anfal’ when Howard interrupted her.

  ‘Who else knows about “Al Anfal”?’ he asked.

  ‘Outside of this taxi, you mean?’ said Toni.

  ‘As a result of your digging.’

  ‘Just us two. We haven’t taken it upstairs yet, if that’s what you’re asking?’

  ‘OK … Well, you’d best keep it that way. I’ll tell you … for all the good it will do you, but I want some guarantees.’

  ‘That this evening will be forgotten?’ said Batey.

  ‘Exactly. I don’t for a minute believe your threats but the very existence of the recording you have causes me some discomfort. I would rather it didn’t exist.’

  ‘You have my word.’

  ‘The word of one spy to another?’

  ‘Possibly little better than that of a politician … but it’s the best you’re going to get, Howard.’

  Howard paused for several seconds. Toni guessed he was weighing up his options. His response suggested he had decided to trust them.

  ‘OK … I’ll spell it out for you. But, like I said, it’s a poisoned chalice. It’s like this: if you think Al Q’aeda are a major problem, think again. Al Q’aeda are the operational side of the threat. A bit like the IRA were in the seventies and eighties.’

  ‘Al Q’aeda didn’t exist in the days when those lads were in Afghan,’ Toni interrupted.

  Howard smiled. ‘Al Q’aeda started way before you and I were aware of it. What preceded it was “Al Anfal”.’

  ‘You’re saying it’s another terror group?’ asked Batey. ‘From what we’ve been able to deduce, “Al Anfal” seems to be some form of treasure, something valuable.’

  Howard laughed. ‘Oh, it’s valuable alright. But it’s knowledge of “Al Anfal”, not the thing itself that has value. No, “Al Anfal” isn’t a treasure, it’s … well … politics. To quote their doctrine, “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve”. Al Anfal is the political wing of terror. It’s like Sinn Fein for Islam, only much bigger and highly secretive.’

  Howard’s story was incredible and he clearly knew his subject in great detail. Both Batey and Toni listened with a mixture of horror and fascination.

  Al Anfal, he revealed, dated back to medieval times, to ‘Sura Al-Anfal’, the ‘Spoils of War’, which, as he explained, was the eighth chapter of the Qur’an. The chapter detailed military tactics and operations, advocated a base in Afghan and trained its members in the means to spread fundamentalism throughout the world.

  Toni understood her error in assessing what ‘Al Anfal’ was. Her conclusion from the search engine explanation, that the wording meant ‘Spoils of War’, had been to assume that it was an item of value.

  Batey commented that it sounded like a template to spread Islam through the Arabic world and from there, to Europe, Asia and beyond. Howard confirmed the analysis and added that it was a philosophy based on centuries, not years.

  Howard related how a patrol of ex-SAS soldiers had stumbled across a document that outlined the Al Anfal plans on how to infiltrate political systems, generate sedition, fester unrest, overthrow governments and install Islamic law in countries across the world. Short-term targets included Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and even Saudi Arabia. Other states, such as Oman and Kenya, were also to be targeted. Long-term plans listed European countries, including the UK. The document had been handed to Howard, as MI6 field officer in Afghan. He had forwarded it to London, where it had been translated. The implications were huge and had been taken to the very highest levels. After a great deal of discussion, a decision had been made to use the knowledge gained from the document rather than try to stop the tide in its tracks. When Al Anfal moved people into political positions in the UK, they were monitored, compromised and then turned. Howard seemed proud as he described how MI6 was able to use Al Anfal agents against the organisation and slow the tide of progress.

  ‘It’s one of our most closely guarded secrets … for obvious reasons,’ Howard said, finally.

  ‘Better to know what your enemy is doing than drive them underground,’ commented Batey. ‘And better to have them venting their energies fighting each other than uniting against the West as a common enemy?’

  ‘Exactly.’ Howard seemed to be enjoying the audience.

  Toni was beginning to understand. But so far, it didn’t explain why the soldiers had been killed, and it didn’t solve the mystery of how Robert Finlay and Kevin Jones had been drawn into it.

  ‘Are you saying there are politicians in the UK who are part of this Al Anfal group?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, all the way through from local councillors, MPs and, until recently, a Government Minister.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Don’t be naive, Toni. Best you don’t know.’

  ‘Does this have anything to do with the Al-Liby enquiry – the so-called ‘Manual of Jihad’ that the French journalists are planning to expose?’

  ‘You’re finally getting it,’ Howard sneered. ‘That manual is a small part of the document the SAS lads found.’

  ‘Jesus … those journalists were also warned off. So you’re taking steps to stop knowledge of it leaking out.’ Toni was aware that the cab was steaming up. She wiped the moisture from the glass and was reassured to see Stuart, the tramp, standing a few yards away. ‘How come we don’t know about it, in MI5, I mean?’

  ‘At the highest level, you most certainly do. But the security clearance is top flight.’

  ‘So is there a connection between it and the deaths of the ex-SAS soldiers?’ asked Toni.

  ‘The Jihad manual is nothing compared to the Al Anfal document. One of the Increment men – Blackwood, we think – photocopied it and kept the copy. A while ago he had it partially translated and, bingo, he realised it was worth a fortune if he could hawk it to a national newspaper.’

  ‘You’re not telling me MI6 took him out for that?’

  ‘At that point it wasn’t known about. It was only when he actually took it to the papers that one of our agents managed to intercept it. As I understand, an attempt was made to persuade him to stay quiet, but then we found out he’d made more copies, given them to his mates. So, an operation was launched to ensure Al Anfal was kept a complete secret.’

  ‘What kind of operation?’ asked Toni.

  ‘Damage limitation. We needed to plug the leak. The plan was to use the same kind of coercion that you’ve just used on me.’

  ‘I understand,’ said Batey. ‘But on home soil that would need MI5 involvement.’

  Howard smiled, raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He didn’t need to. Both Batey and Toni realised MI5 had been involved. In fact, they had taken on the job. Monaghan must have been the officer deputed to do it.

  Toni could hardly believe her ears. ‘That meant that everybody who knew of it had to be silenced?’ she asked.

  ‘Indeed.’

  ‘So the solution was to kill them all … including McGlinty in Belmarsh? I thought there were rules governing that kind of thing – signed approvals from the Home Secretary … don’t you follow any rules at all?’

  ‘We have rules. Monaghan broke them. He was supposed to just persuade the soldiers to hand over any documents they had and to keep quiet. It should have been a relatively simple job to blackmail them. But, no, he took it upon himself to have them terminated.’

  ‘All of them?’

  ‘Yes, all of them … and now I’m having to clear up the m
ess he left behind.’

  ‘Does that include Brian McNeil? He was also one of the other Increment men.’

  ‘Yes, he was one, last heard of in Iraq, I believe.’

  ‘He’s alive?’

  ‘To the best of my knowledge, yes. I can confirm he was one of the men that Monaghan was supposed to speak to.’

  ‘And what about the last one, Chris Grady – what’s become of him?’

  ‘Grady I can’t discuss other than to say that he’s also alive.’

  ‘Was Monaghan supposed to speak to him, too?’ Toni tweaked her first fingers to emulate inverted commas and emphasise the word.

  Howard shifted in his seat, seemingly uncomfortable at her inference. ‘He was.’

  ‘Is he in hiding or something?’

  ‘Sorry, Toni. I can’t discuss Grady.’

  ‘And what about the others? There were a total of twelve men on that patrol – thirteen if the account given by Chas Collins is to be believed. Ten of them are dead. Did Monaghan get rid of all of them?’

  ‘Monaghan had his faults but he was thorough.’

  ‘Jesus. That’s wholesale bloody murder.’

  ‘Like I said, the intention was to give them the option to keep quiet. Perhaps Monaghan tried that and failed?’

  ‘OK … but killing off McGlinty wasn’t Monaghan’s doing. That was you tidying up any link back to the Security Service?’

  ‘That’s about the sum of it. We couldn’t take a chance he knew what Monaghan had been doing.’

  ‘What kind of rule is it that allows you to steal my fucking identity card and use it to kill a man in prison?’ Toni felt her temper rising.

  ‘I’m sorry, Toni. We needed a way into the prison and your card … well, it just became available at the right time. Nothing personal … and, like you said, we needed the option to get you out of the picture in case you got too close.’

  Toni became aware of Batey placing a hand on her forearm and squeezing it gently. She forced herself to relax. The time to get even with Howard Green would come later.

  Batey resumed the questioning. ‘Finlay and Jones … they had no knowledge of the document, and they weren’t on the team that you used in Afghan.’

  ‘Again … not one of our finest hours, I’m afraid. When Nial Monaghan was given the job, he succumbed to the opportunity to settle some old scores. Those two were added to his hit list. If he hadn’t been killed himself, then likely as not, he would have got away with it. He would have just reported that they also knew about Al Anfal and had to be taken out.’

  ‘So who killed Monaghan?’

  ‘We’re not sure. One of the terrorists he’d engaged to do his dirty work, we think. Probably the Irishman who had been posing as an Arab. He thought he’d been betrayed by Monaghan, so he had the motive.’

  Toni breathed a shallow sigh of relief. Finlay and Jones were in the clear.

  Chapter 77

  With Howard Green released, Toni and Dave Batey sat for several moments before either of them spoke.

  What Howard had said had stunned them, as had his willingness to talk. But now, they began to realise that he wasn’t afraid to tell them, because he knew they would dare not tell anyone else. Knowledge gave power but, in this case, it was just as Howard had described: a poisoned chalice. Neither of them could admit to anyone that they knew about Al Anfal, or that they had even heard of it. To do so would place them at risk. The very same risk the former soldiers had exposed themselves to when they had decided to try to sell the story. The soldiers had been silenced. Two more casualties, even MI5 officers, might easily be justified to maintain such a sensitive secret.

  As Toni watched Howard march along the pavement towards King’s Cross, she understood why he walked so confidently.

  The best thing to come out of the meeting was the promise that Howard had made to ensure that the copy of her pass would be sent to Dave Batey the very next day. At least her career was saved.

  The tense atmosphere in the rear of the taxi was only broken when Stuart Anderson opened the nearside door.

  ‘Your man has hailed a cab, are we done for the night?’

  Toni turned to face the door. ‘Yes, thanks. You did a great job. Tell the others to stand down.’

  ‘You OK?’ Stuart asked. ‘Not being funny, but you look a bit shocked.’

  ‘We’re fine … really. Can you close the door a moment, we need a few more minutes.’

  ‘When is your report on Monaghan due with the Director?’ Batey asked, as the door closed.

  ‘Already late with it,’ Toni said. ‘I’m wondering exactly what to put in it now.’

  ‘Well, you can’t mention Al Anfal. Finish the report tomorrow, please.’

  ‘On a Sunday?’

  ‘Yes. I’ll be in as well, so you can run it past me. Make your conclusion that Monaghan was acting alone and to his own agenda. Endorse what the police Commander said about it being a jealous husband and a vengeful terrorist.’

  ‘You think Howard is telling the truth?’

  ‘If I’m completely honest with you it explains some other things that have happened in the last few years. Nothing I can share with you, though.’

  ‘What do you want me to tell Finlay and Jones?’ Toni asked.

  ‘Again, stick with the initial conclusions. There’s no need for them to know any more and no need for any further worry on their part. They don’t know about this political Jihad and they need have no idea as to the real reason their mates were killed. Let’s leave it that way.’

  ‘They seem to have no idea how many former soldiers have been eliminated.’

  ‘Best it stays that way, I think.’

  ‘Time to mind our own business?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘I just don’t understand why Monaghan had to kill all those men. Why not simply blackmail them? They could have used the same kind of leverage we threatened Howard with.’

  Batey smiled. ‘Think about it Toni. You can’t have that many people subject to the same kind of blackmail at the same time and not have one of them leak it … or maybe some journalist somewhere put two and two together. I wouldn’t be too sure that was Monaghan’s decision, despite what Howard says. I wonder if it might have been a deniable judgement made at a much higher level. Whatever happened, a decision was made and people like us carried it out.’

  ‘What about Grady and McNeil?’

  ‘Forget about them. In the case of Grady, I’d guess he’s not only alive, he’s one of us – probably still working for the Security Service. It would seem a likely progression from Increment.’

  ‘Maybe that’s why Monaghan didn’t find him. What do you think will happen with Collins?’ Toni asked.

  ‘At a guess, MI6 will have plans to finish off what Monaghan started.’

  ‘Kill him, you mean?’

  ‘If you want to put it that way. Fear you would discover what was going on is probably the real reason you were warned away from him.’

  ‘And what did you think of the Al Anfal thing, a plan to create some kind of Caliphate in the Middle East?’

  Batey thought for a moment. ‘I’ve got no idea. If what they are saying is right then people like Gaddafi are going to be prime targets. We would like that, so would the Americans. Better to have the threat of disorganised fundamentalists than the power of a dictator and, like I said to Howard, better to have them fighting each other.’

  ‘And what about on home turf?’

  ‘At Director level, we must already be aware. There’s no way that Six could run an op like that on home soil without the Security Service knowing about it. That means you can’t tell your team what Howard told us … not a soul, in fact.’

  ‘Trust no one?’

  ‘The world of the spy, Toni … And on the subject of Finlay and Jones, you’d better be careful about what you tell Stuart and Nell about them as well.’

  ‘What about the report on my security card?’

  ‘Leave that with me.’


  As Batey opened the rear door to the taxi, Stuart appeared. He was wet, and Toni could see it had started to rain. He looked agitated.

  ‘Nell’s been trying to reach you. Green is on the phone; you’re not going to believe who he’s just called.’

  Chapter 78

  ‘Give us a moment, Nell,’ said Toni.

  They were back at the office and Nell was squirming in her chair, rubbing her hands together and clearly bursting to share what she had heard. Toni flung her wet coat onto the nearest desk and wheeled her chair over to join Nell in front of her screen. Dave Batey and Stuart had just arrived and were in the process of closing the security door.

  ‘Make us a brew, lad,’ said Batey.

  Stuart frowned, his sense of disappointment apparent. He wasn’t going to be close enough to hear the recording Nell was about to play back.

  Batey saw his face. ‘Sorry Stuart. This is for our ears only.’

  Toni understood. Although Stuart was aware that Nell had recorded Howard Green telephoning Dirt, he was in the dark regarding the content of the conversation. As for Nell, it was already too late; she had listened to it live.

  ‘Where exactly did it take place, Nell?’ she asked, as her assistant lined up the beginning of the recording.

  ‘Sounded like he was in the back of a cab. It was just a few minutes after he left you.’

  Batey raised an eyebrow. ‘So he called the Director straight after talking to us?’

  ‘And he wasn’t happy,’ said Nell.

  ‘Is he out to make trouble?’ Toni asked.

  Nell rubbed her hands on her thighs and then pressed a key. ‘Listen for yourself.’

  Toni leaned forward as the voice of Howard Green began:

  ‘Apologies for calling you at this late hour, I have a problem that I need a decision on.’

  There was a pause, as if the recipient of the call was trying to decide how best to respond.

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘In a taxi on the way back into town. It’s safe.’

  ‘What’s the problem?’