Guy Fawkes Day
Page 73
***
On the fifth ring Al-Ajnabi accepted the call.
‘This is Commissioner Dinsdale," said a level voice. "Who am I speaking to?’
‘You can call me Omar; and that is my real name. No need to play hide-and-seek, Commissioner. All our secrets will be out in the open by the time we finish in here, so we may as well get used to first names right from the beginning. What do you say, Paul?’
‘If you like it that way.’
Dinsdale was evidently wrong-footed and Al-Ajnabi enjoyed his discomfort.
‘Good. Then seeing as I have finally got your attention, you had better listen carefully. At 5:29 p.m. today the House of Commons was taken over by my heavily armed and highly experienced team. At the moment, we are holding twenty-three tourists, thirty-two MPs, three clerks, four security guards and a couple of other high profile hostages inside the Commons. By the time we finish this conversation, some of the hostages will have been dispersed around the Palace to various locations, each containing enough Semtex to make Guy Fawkes turn with envy in his grave. All access to the Palace has been mined or booby-trapped, save for that connecting the Commons to St Stephen's Entrance via the Commons and Central Lobbies. This is where the hostages will begin to leave safely from once you start to comply precisely with my instructions.’
‘Are any of the hostages injured?’
‘None. But what about your lot, Paul? Any casualties at New Scotland Yard?’
Dinsdale paused. Al-Ajnabi guessed the commissioner must have qualms about chatting so glibly to a man he would classify as a dangerous 'terrorist'.
‘Nobody's been killed that we know of,’ Dinsdale sighed, "but there are a couple of fairly nasty injuries.’
‘Then that's your fault for passing me over to a bloody hostage negotiator. This isn't some domestic hold-up you know, Paul. Don't insult us like that again.’
‘We're not trying to insult you, Omar…’
"Look, I don't have time for your explanations,’ Al-Ajnabi interrupted. ‘Anyway, it looks like you're the only one with blood on your hands so far. One of your officers shot and killed one of my team. We'll send you instructions later about where to repatriate it for burial. And that brings me to my next point and most important point. The slightest suspicion of police or SAS infiltration into any part of the Palace will result in the detonation of one or all of the Semtex devices. There's enough explosive laid down already to bring down the entire Palace of Westminster on top of all of our heads. Don't doubt our resolve, Paul. We're quite willing to die.’
‘We have no intention of entering the Palace, Omar. And all my men have been pulled out. We can work this out peacefully, guaranteed. If, as you say, no one other than your own men has been harmed, I'm sure we can come to some sort of deal.’
‘None of your deals, thank you, Paul. I've already had first-hand experience of the sort of deal your lot strikes. This is my deal. All you need to do is listen and comply.’
‘Wait a minute, Omar,’ Dinsdale cut in sharply. ‘It's not our policy here at the Met to give in to terrorist demands, whatever the circumstances. We'll work with you to get everybody out safely but I can't authorize any more than that.’
It was Al-Ajnabi's turn to get angry and his voice seethed with an anger that had been ripening for twenty years.
‘Can't authorize it? Haven't we given you enough indication that we mean business, or do you want more blood and explosions? If you're worried about authorization call the Home Secretary and tell him that James McPherson will be among the first to perish in the next explosion. That ought to do the trick.’
Al-Ajnabi didn't need to have Dinsdale standing there in front of him to guess the look on the commissioner's face. But the concession took several long sighs to extract.
‘All right, Omar, no need to put any more lives at risk. Tell me what you want and I'll get back to you.’
‘Obviously this conversation is being recorded?’ Al-Ajnabi asked, softening the intonation in his voice.
‘That's standard procedure in these cases, Omar.’
‘Good. Then you can replay it as many times as necessary to make sure you get it right. Make careful note of the names, times and places. Are you ready?’
‘I'm listening.’
‘Then this is what I want…’