Theresa May: escaped terror suspect poses no ‘direct threat’

Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, who is understood to have received training and fought overseas for the Somali militant group, al-Shabaab, was last seen at a west London mosque on Friday afternoon.

The home secretary told the Commons that police think Mr Mohamed, who was subject to a TPim (terror prevention and investigation measure), poses “no direct threat” to the public.

This Home Secretary has made it easier for serious terror suspects to disappear. Yvette Cooper

She said: “The police and security services have confirmed that they do not believe that this man poses a direct threat to the public in the UK. The reason he was put on a TPim in the first place was to prevent his travel to support terrorism overseas.”

Police have urged anyone who sees Mohamed or knows of his whereabouts not to approach him but to call 999, she said.

‘No idea’

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper responded that even though Ms May said he was no threat, Mr Mohamed had “attended terror training camps”.

Ms Cooper said: “The home secretary says that he poses no direct threat even though he is widely reported in the media to have attended terror training camps, to have procured weapons, and to have planned attacks – and he has walked away from a terror suspect order in a very simple disguise and the Home Secretary has no idea where he is.

“This is the second man in 10 months subject to a TPim who has now absconded. There were only ten of them to start with, and two of them have now gone. One in a black cab and one in a disguise.”

“This home secretary has made it easier for serious terror suspects to disappear,” she added.

Terrorism prevention notice

Mr Mohamed entered the west London mosque on Friday wearing western-style clothes, but CCTV images issued by Scotland Yard later show him leaving with his face and body fully covered by the traditional Islamic garment.

A court-imposed anonymity order banning the publication of Mr Mohamed’s name has been lifted to allow police to make a public appeal, following an application from the home secretary.

Security Minister James Brokenshire said: “National security is the government’s top priority and the police are doing everything in their power to apprehend this man as quickly as possible.

“The police and security services do not believe that this man poses a direct threat to the public in the UK.”

Somalia-born Mr Mohamed, who is 5ft 8in tall and of medium build, arrived at the An-Noor Masjid and Community Centre in Church Road, Acton, at 10am on Friday and was last seen there at 3.15pm that day.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The counter terrorism command immediately launched inquiries to trace Mr Mohamed and these continue.

“Ports and borders were notified with his photograph and details circulated nationally. Public safety remains our priority.”

Two year limit

TPims, which include restrictions on overnight residence, travel and finance, are imposed by the home secretary, who is given access to secret evidence that can not be placed before juries.

They do not allow for the relocation of suspects, as control orders did.

Unlike control orders, TPims have a maximum time limit of two years. Control orders could be extended year on year without limit, while TPims can be extended after a year for another 12 months before they expire.

As of 31 August, there were nine TPims in force, including eight against British suspects, the latest written update to MPs showed.

In December 2012, Ibrahim Magag, who is understood to have attended training camps in Somalia, absconded from a Tpim notice after ripping off his electronic tag. and The police search for him is continuing.

The terrorism watchdog warned earlier this year that TPims could allow those deemed potentially dangerous to be left “free and unconstrained” in the absence of prosecution or new evidence of terrorism-related activity.

David Anderson QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said in his first report on TPims, that the two-year limit was the “boldest” change from control orders made by the Government, adding that it was “tempting, in the most serious cases, to wish for longer”.

Speaking in March, he said: “Some subjects who have been judged by the home secretary and by the courts to be potentially dangerous will then, absent prosecution or new evidence of terrorism-related activity, be free and unconstrained.”

‘Robust mechanism’

Mr Anderson said a longer time limit was tempting as allegations against some Tpim subjects were at the “highest end of seriousness, even by the standards of international terrorism”.

However, he concluded that the two years of constraint now permitted were “a very strong power by international or indeed historic British standards”.

Mr Brokenshire has defended the measures, describing them as providing a “robust mechanism” to manage suspects and reassure the public.