Kurdish security boss: UK terror laws ‘too soft’

Iraq’s leading security boss has warned that counter-terror laws in Britain and Europe are "too soft".

Lahur Talabany, the head of Kurdish counter terrorism and a key ally of western agencies, also said that many more attacks like those in London and Manchester are likely as Islamic State loses ground in Iraq.

He said it is impossible to watch 3-4,000 suspects 24 hours a day.

Mr Talabany has been advising Europe and in particular Britain, where he grew up, for years, passing on vital information and intelligence.

"What we achieve here will keep people in London safe," he told me.

Mr Talabany has been on the frontline fighting Islamic State since they first pushed into Iraq in 2014. His Counter Terror Group, an elite special forces unit, oversaw the defence of Kurdistan alongside the country’s Peshmerga army.

We first met hiding behind a berm under fire from IS, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

Now working most of the time directing the security services, he is adamant that there have to be changes in the way terror laws in the UK and Europe are implemented.

"We’ve said from the beginning that ISIS would be a global problem," he said.

"These types of attacks were to be expected in London and other countries. People shouldn’t be surprised.

"The laws should be changed in Europe.

"It is not for me to say but the laws are too soft on some of these people that go and join the ranks of ISIL and they are allowed to come back into the country and run around freely and they put them on the watch.

"You cannot put 3-4,000 people on the watch 24 hours a day. So I think first they need to retake a look at some of the laws that exist in Europe.

"If we are suspicious of somebody that poses a threat for the stability of this region – then we have to arrest them and until we are 100 per cent sure, these people should not get out, to be honest with you.

"It is more important to lock one guy up and save thousands of lives, than allow this guy to run around freely and give them a chance to murder innocent people.

"As I said, the laws are too soft in Europe. I believe there needs to be tougher laws at least on people who have been exposed to these kind of war zones or these kind of groups.

"I know some are being watched carefully but it seems they are not being watched too carefully if they are getting away with attacks like they are."

He says that foreign fighters who have been to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will "easily" find their way into joining extremist groups like IS when they go home and he is convinced that new low-tech terrorism like driving trucks into people and stabbing them will rise.

"They are on the defensive, where two years ago they were on offensive they looked very attractive, they had a good media campaign going.

"Things are going the other way now, they are on the defensive they losing territory so they need other means to keep themselves going and to keep themselves alive.

"What happened in London and Manchester and other places – this is the kind of stuff they will be looking for from now on."

He said it makes no difference that the UK is a country involved in the fight in Iraq and Syria against IS, adding that the anti-western rhetoric of Islamic State isn’t linked to the battles here, but rather in just attacking western society.

"I think it is very important that the west is here trying to finish these guys off. Because if they don’t ISIL will grow and they will grow in the UK and in larger numbers.

"It is a very important fight and that will keep people safe in London. What we achieve here will keep people safe in London."

(c) Sky News 2017: Kurdish security boss: UK terror laws ‘too soft’