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MI5 agents speak for first time Asian MI5 and MI6 staffers speak
(about 1 hour later)
Two MI5 agents have been allowed to speak for the first time about life inside Britain's security service. British Asian intelligence and security officers have spoken to the BBC about their work in bid to broaden recruitment among ethnic minorities.
The intelligence officers - both British Asians - were permitted to talk to the BBC about the difficulties they faced when dealing with terrorism. Two MI5 agents were permitted to talk for the first time in the hope of attracting more ethnic minorities into the security service.
They told Asian Network they felt their job was not about targeting Muslim communities, but tackling extremism and preventing attacks on the UK. They told Asian Network their job was to protect the UK, not target Muslims.
MI5 allowed the interviews in a bid to attract more Asians into its workforce. Meanwhile, a Muslim officer of the security service MI6 has told Radio 1 about her work recruiting spies.
MI5 - Britain's domestic security service - says it hopes the insight into life as a British Asian agent will help increase its percentage of black and minority ethnic staff, which currently stands at 6.5%.
It also wants to improve relations with Muslim communities.
It has a target of increasing its current 3,000 staff to 4,000 by 2011 to help track the 2,000 individuals currently believed to pose a threat to national security.
Family reaction
When out with friends or relations I tend to be quite vague about my work - I don't want the unnecessary attention MI5 agentWhen out with friends or relations I tend to be quite vague about my work - I don't want the unnecessary attention MI5 agent
A male agent, who called himself Shazad, and a female agent, named Jayshree, spoke to the BBC at MI5's headquarters in London. A male agent, who called himself Shazad, and a female agent, named Jayshree, talked about life inside MI5.
In the exclusive interview - the first recorded inside the building in MI5's 98-year history - the officers spoke about the challenges of leading double lives. In the exclusive interviews - the first recorded at MI5's London headquarters in the organisation's 98-year history - the officers discussed the challenges of leading double lives.
"When out with friends or relations I tend to be quite vague about my work - I don't want the unnecessary attention," said Jayshree, who analyses intelligence from a variety of sources, including overseas."When out with friends or relations I tend to be quite vague about my work - I don't want the unnecessary attention," said Jayshree, who analyses intelligence from a variety of sources, including overseas.
She added that her parents knew about her role, but were "not as excited or interested" as she thought they would be.She added that her parents knew about her role, but were "not as excited or interested" as she thought they would be.
"To the point that once my father said 'What's there to get excited about - you work for MFI', and I had to remind him that I don't work for a furniture store, I work for the security services." "To the point that once my father said 'What's there to get excited about? You work for MFI', and I had to remind him that I don't work for a furniture store, I work for the security services."
No conflict
They said they did not feel any conflict as British Asians in their security roles because their work at MI5 was not about targeting communities, but instead about tracking individuals.They said they did not feel any conflict as British Asians in their security roles because their work at MI5 was not about targeting communities, but instead about tracking individuals.
"If you look at the bigger picture, I think you realise this isn't about spying on your own community, or letting your own community down, or any of those things," Shazad said.
"It is about protecting people like yourself - others out there from threats, and there can be a number of different kinds of threats."
MI5 chief Jonathan Evans says 2,000 UK individuals pose a threatMI5 chief Jonathan Evans says 2,000 UK individuals pose a threat
The two agents also spoke about how they felt after hearing about the 7 July terror attacks on the London transport system in 2005. Shazad said: "If you look at the bigger picture, I think you realise this isn't about spying on your own community, or letting your own community down, or any of those things.
Jayshree said she felt "absolute shock" but that she had been trained to deal with such an event. "It is about protecting people like yourself - others out there from threats, and there can be a number of different kinds of threats."
'Totally compatible'
Yasmin, who is a member of overseas intelligence agency MI6, told BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat she did not think she was recruited because of her Muslim faith.
And she said she would challenge "very strongly" any suggestion that her religion complicated her work.
"The way I feel is that my duty to God is totally compatible with my duty to my country," Yasmin said.
"I would say extremism in any form is wrong, be that Islamic extremism or any other kind of extremism.
"I feel very, very strongly that if you are able to do something to make a difference, you should make that difference."
Once I joined I felt that the work we were doing was invaluable - and this is a country that has welcomed my family MI5 agent
The MI5 agents recalled how they felt after hearing about the 7 July terror attacks in 2005.
Jayshree said she felt "absolute shock" but had been trained to deal with such an event.
"The reality was that this was probably one of the biggest jobs that any of my colleagues and I ever had to undertake."The reality was that this was probably one of the biggest jobs that any of my colleagues and I ever had to undertake.
"We'd received the training and we just got ahead and tried to do as much work as we could.""We'd received the training and we just got ahead and tried to do as much work as we could."
Unlike the public, she was in a position where she could "make a difference" and "find out what had happened and piece things together".Unlike the public, she was in a position where she could "make a difference" and "find out what had happened and piece things together".
Staff targets 'Protecting my country'
MI5 hopes the insight into life as a British Asian agent will help increase its percentage of black and minority ethnic staff, which currently stands at 6.5%, as well as improve relations with Muslim communities. Asked what motivated her to first become an MI5 agent, Jayshree said she felt she was repaying a debt to her country.
It has a target of increasing its current 3,000 staff to 4,000 by 2011 to help track the 2,000 individuals currently believed to pose a threat to national security.
Once I joined I felt that the work we were doing was invaluable - and this is a country that has welcomed my family MI5 agent
Asked what motivated her to first become an MI5 agent, Jayshree said she felt she was paying back a debt to a country which had welcomed her relations.
"Once I joined I felt that the work we were doing was invaluable - and this is a country that has welcomed my family."Once I joined I felt that the work we were doing was invaluable - and this is a country that has welcomed my family.
"I've been born, raised here - this is my country. I just want to work as hard as I can to ensure that it's safe for my, I'd like to say community, but by that I mean my whole country.""I've been born, raised here - this is my country. I just want to work as hard as I can to ensure that it's safe for my, I'd like to say community, but by that I mean my whole country."
She added that she couldn't think of "any better way of paying back or working to protect everyone who lives here".She added that she couldn't think of "any better way of paying back or working to protect everyone who lives here".
Rewarding work Shazad agreed that he joined MI5 to help the country his family had chosen to make home.
Shazad agreed that he also felt motivated to help the country his family had chosen to make home.
"It was one of the driving points behind why I joined. It was an opportunity to work for an organisation whose input really did matter and an opportunity to work somewhere where you could make a real difference.""It was one of the driving points behind why I joined. It was an opportunity to work for an organisation whose input really did matter and an opportunity to work somewhere where you could make a real difference."
But when asked if life inside MI5 was anything like BBC drama Spooks, Jayshree said: "I think, particularly being a female in the service, I'd always be worried that a baddie would want to chuck my head in a deep fat fryer - so I'm particularly grateful that our work doesn't represent Spooks."But when asked if life inside MI5 was anything like BBC drama Spooks, Jayshree said: "I think, particularly being a female in the service, I'd always be worried that a baddie would want to chuck my head in a deep fat fryer - so I'm particularly grateful that our work doesn't represent Spooks."
The interviews will be broadcast on BBC Asian Network from 0600 GMT on Monday, 26 November. The MI5 interviews will be broadcast on BBC Asian Network from 0600 GMT on Monday, 26 November.
The MI6 interview is part of a week-long series of special Newsbeat reports on the British security services. They will be broadcast at 1745 GMT from Monday 26 November.