'It's time for the West to listen'

THE company website for International Intelligence reads like an Andy McNab fan's dream. Their services include "counter espionage, surveillance, close protection, investigation" and the discerning agent-about-town can buy a host of spy goodies like telephone taps, eavesdropping systems, body armour and bugging devices.

But you don't have to look towards the freezing climes of Moscow for this company, International Intelligence is based in the unlikely setting of Stonehouse. The company is run by a local boy, 31-year-old former Archway pupil Alex Bomberg.

During his time serving with the Glosters Alex travelled all over the world. He served in the Falklands and Bosnia. After leaving the army in 1997 he did a management course and worked for a private security company in London before leaving to set up International Intelligence in 2002.

"The areas we cover are specialist operational work, counter espionage, intelligence gathering and surveillance," he explained.

"Two of our clients are governments. We basically advise them on things like telephone tapping and email interception, and advise them on areas such as counter intelligence." When asked which governments, he replied with a wry smile: "I really cannot say."

Mr Bomberg insists that International Intelligence personnel are wholly professional; their close protection teams are comprised solely of former SAS soldiers and their investigators are plucked from the ranks of MI5.

Since its foundation, much of the company's time has been spent in Iraq. There have been several public triumphs. In August 2003 one of the company's teams rescued six solicitors from an angry mob in Baghdad after their jeep broke down and safely evacuated them to a hotel.

But the present situation in Iraq is undeniably volatile, with fresh reports of violence almost every day. To the International Intelligence boss, the American attempt to set up what he calls a "puppet" government is not entirely the right course of action.

"I do not think it is 100 per cent the right way to go or the correct way to solve the problem," he said. "We have got to understand the history of the Middle East. People in the Middle East generally have been have been let down by the British and American governments for the last 40 years.

"If you understand the politics and if you understand the people you can work with them and not against them and this is the major problem in the Middle East. "The American and British people as a whole are very ignorant of Islamic culture - even though we have Muslims and Arabs in this country we do not know too much about them.

"What we see as progress they see as Westernisation and a loss of their own culture, so we need to be careful and respect their laws. They have their own way of doing things. "They are a people that have been oppressed for 30 years. The last thing they want is McDonald's and Woolworths and all that. I think we have failed to remember this issue."

International Intelligence operatives are currently involved in investigating the lucrative contracts handed out to Western companies in the post-war carve-up of Iraq. With the oil vultures so quick to circle, he says, it seems the Western world has not learnt from its colonial past.

"Look at our own history," he said. "Look at Africa in the 19th century, where we robbed countries of their diamonds, their gold and their natural resources. "At the end of the day countries get raped. We have got to be careful."

It may seem a bit rich that somebody who makes a living from hired guns can lecture the government on its international ethics. But he insists that despite the furtive nature of much of his work, it is fundamentally an honest profession.

"There are ethics behind it," he said. "I would never do a job against the British government. And I would not do a job which made me feel I could not sleep at night." Given his affinity with the Muslim world and the people of Iraq, Mr Bomberg especially lamented the well-publicised abuse of Iraqi prisoners which has so inflamed the Muslim world.

"The worst thing to come out of the war is the mistreatment of those prisoners in Iraq," he said. "We have abused our position. It is like helping an old lady across the road and stealing her handbag."

But if the British and American forces are not wanted in Iraq, what is the solution? Mr Bomberg believes the answer lies with the United Nations and a more moderate approach across the Middle East. It is time, he says, for the West to start listening, rather than telling.

"We need to be thinking about hearts and minds, not bullets and guns," he said. "But this is very difficult when insurgence is going on constantly.

"These people are terrorists but they are not terrorists in the same respect as Al Quaeda. They do not start out as terrorists, they turn into terrorists when they are not listened to. People won't listen, so they start bombing."

This is a rather liberal point of view for an ex-soldier but Mr Bomberg considers his first-hand experience of dealing with these countries gives him the edge over those who were against the war in the UK. On the face of it he shares many of his views with Stroud's top peace campaigners but he has little time for their opinions.

"You get people writing letters to the newspaper," he said. "They don't know the Iraqi people or all the facts about Saddam Hussein. It is very difficult for someone to sit in Stroud and make judgements about something that is happening in Iraq."

Above all, Mr Bomberg believes bickering over the war is counterproductive. For Iraq to emerge from the mire it now finds itself in, the world needs to put aside its differences and focus on the positive.

"It is a good thing that Saddam Hussein has come to trial - it means more hope for the people of Iraq," he said.

"It is time for the world to get behind what is happening and make it into a good thing."