An MI5 spy who helped to jail Abu Qatada is to sue the security services after he was almost killed by the preacher's followers when his cover was blown.
Reda Hassaine, 50, who spied on Qatada for Special Branch and MI5, is said to be claiming that intelligence chiefs failed in their duty of care towards him.
Hassaine, 43, fled Algeria when, as a journalist, he became a target for Islamists. In 1994 he applied to the French embassy in London for French citizenship.
He claims he was asked by the French to spy on Qatada, which led to an introduction to Special Branch before he was passed to MI5.
He then went undercover at Finsbury Park Mosque, where Qatada was a preacher, and tracked people such as shoe bomber Richard Reid and Zacharias Moussaoui, alleged to have been the intended 20th hijacker in the 9/11 attacks.
Both attended Qatada's Friday prayer meetings at the Four Feathers club. But in April 2000, Hassaine noticed some regulars staring at him. He says he tried to leave quickly but was ambushed. He broke free and ran for his life.
Hassaine said he wanted to prosecute Qatada for the attack, but his handlers did not. "When I was attacked I was kicked in the mouth and lost several teeth. I remember looking up and seeing Qatada smiling."
Qatada, 52, is now under house arrest in Wembley.
Neither Scotland Yard nor the Home Office would comment on the case.
