A British soldier charged with terrorist offenses escaped from a London prison on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police said.
Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, awaits trial for terrorist offenses and for breaching the Official Secrets Act.
Police have issued an urgent appeal to the public to help locate the man, who is believed to have escaped from prison around 7:50 am local time (the same time in Lisbon).
Police consider it likely that he is still in the London area or that he could take refuge in Kingston, in the south of the British capital, where he has acquaintances.
The head of the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Terrorism Command, Dominic Murphy, assured there was “no reason to believe that Khalife poses a threat to the general public”.
But, the official insists, “our advice, if you see him, is that you don’t approach him,” warning authorities.
The British public broadcaster BBC reported today that the Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard at a hearing in February that the suspect had left fake explosives on a military base “with the intent to give someone else the impression that the object was likely to explode or detonate” “.
At an earlier hearing, the prosecution said Khalife “extracted” personal information about soldiers from the Defense Ministry’s computer system in 2021, which would be “likely to be useful to a person who has committed or prepared an act of terrorism.”
The public station also noted that prison escapes are rare in Britain: five recorded escapes since 2017 and fewer than 20 since 2010.
Source: DN
