http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26210338-5005962,00.html (http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26210338-5005962,00.html)
ITALIAN dictator Benito Mussolini had a brief career as a British secret agent, the Guardian newspaper reported today, quoting research by a Cambridge University historian.
In 1917, Mussolini, then working as a journalist, was paid 100 pounds a week by security service MI5 to campaign for Italy to continue to fight alongside the allies in World War I.
"Britain's least reliable ally in the war at the time was Italy after the revolutionary Russia's pullout from the conflict," Cambridge historian Peter Martland told the Guardian.
"Mussolini was paid 100 pounds a week from the autumn of 1917 for at least a year to keep up the pro-war campaigning -- equivalent to about £6,000 ($10,498) a week today."
Mr Martland made the discovery as he studied papers belonging to Sir Samuel Hoare, MI5's man in Rome at the time, who was in charge of some 100 British intelligence officers in Italy.
As well as publishing pro-war propaganda in his paper, Il Popolo d'Italia, Mussolini also reportedly agreed to send Italian army veterans to beat up peace protesters.
"It was a lot of money to pay a man who was a journalist at the time, but compared to the four million pounds Britain was spending on the war every day, it was petty cash," Mr Martland said.
Isn't MI5's primary role domestic security and intelligence ie within the UK?
(first indication that this article is bull****)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI5)
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of the intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6)
Its role was originally quite restricted; existing purely to ensure national security through counter-espionage. With a small staff and working in conjunction with the Special Branch of the Metropolitan Police, the service was responsible for overall direction and the identification of foreign agents, whilst Special Branch provided the manpower for the investigation of their affairs, arrest and interrogation.
Exactly my point. They made investigations into foreign agents that were/are operating on UK soil. Not outside of the UK. That would come into MI6's jurisdiction.
As I said, this is the first indication that this article is false. Probably written by the same journo that claimed Hitler was a jew.