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Daniel Abed Khalife, a soldier suspected of terrorism, is now the subject of a nationwide manhunt after thwarting guards at a London prison.
He escaped dressed in a chef’s suit to cling to a food delivery van, not knowing where he is now. Intelligence sources told The Independent it was “almost certain” he had secured “inside help”.
Follow The Independent’s blog for the latest updates.
Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said the escape was “clearly planned,” pointing to “the fact that it could just stick to the back of the wagon,” referring to the delivery van Khalif used to flee.
As airports and ports install more security measures and tourists report delays at border control, his escape raises serious questions about whether he will be incarcerated in a category B prison.
Before his arrest in January, the 21-year-old was a former soldier who had served in the British Army since 2018 and worked as a computer network engineer in the Royal Corps of Signals.
Having known links with Kingston in London, it was founded at the Ministry of Defence’s Stafford military base in its service, also known as Beacon Barracks.
However, it charged him with terrorism offences and charges similar to those under this year’s Official Secrets Act, after he was accused of hoaxing the RAF base.
According to court documents, he placed “three wired cartridges at RAF Stafford with the intent to cause others to say that such item would likely explode or ignite and thereby cause injury or damage to property,” in contravention of segment 51 of the Criminal Law Act. 1977.
He is also charged with downloading or attempting to download data that could be useful to a terrorist on August 2, 2021, and of violating the Official Secrets Act by collecting data that could be useful to an enemy between May 1, 2019, and August 6, 2021. January 2022.
Khalif, a British citizen whose father is believed to be Iranian, allegedly tried to pass the data to a foreign power, possibly Iran, security sources told The Independent. They claim that he sought to “graduate” the espionage with the evidence he had received. of the Ministry of Defence.
Khalif was first arrested in January 2022 on suspicion of another offence but was released on bail before being arrested again following an investigation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command.
At an earlier hearing earlier this year, a prosecutor told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that he disappeared from barracks after the alleged bomb hoax and that “active efforts had been made to search for him”.
A few weeks later he was arrested “in or near his car” and has been detained ever since.
The former soldier has denied all charges against him and is due to stand trial on November 13 for six weeks at Woolwich Crown Court.
Khalife is a computer network engineer in the Royal Corps of Signals, the communications branch of the British Army, of which Princess Anne has been colonel-in-chief since 1977.
Royal Signals has been deployed in each and every Army operation since the corps’ inception in 1920 and is described by the Ministry of Defence as “leaders in computing, cyber security and telecommunications, delivering winning communications to each and every component of the army”.
Royal Signals members “are trained as experts in engineering and operating systems, networks and cyber equipment,” the army’s online page adds.
Regiments stationed at Beacon Barracks include the 1. er Signal Regiment and 16th Signal Regiment, which supply data and communications to the armoured brigade headquarters and satellite link with the UK, and signals from the 22nd Signal Regiment, which serves NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. Headquarters.
Khalif served as a component of the 22nd Signal Regiment, according to The Independent, and allegedly had access to electrical defensive equipment.
Questions are now being raised as to why Khalif is being held at HMP Wandsworth, given its classification as a category B prison, the highest moment of security.
Those accused of terrorism are being held at Belmarsh category A prison in south-east London.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk made an urgent appeal to the penal director and senior prison service officials for assurances about what is being done to the offender’s safety.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said: “We have a team of officials who are carrying out thorough and urgent investigations to locate and arrest Khalif as temporarily as possible.
“However, the public can also help us and if you see Khalif or have any information about where he might be, call 999 immediately.
“I also need to assure the public that we have no data indicating or explaining why Khalif poses a risk to the general public, but our recommendation if you see him is not to approach him and call 999 immediately. “
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