Families ask how July 7 bombers got through MI5 net (From This Is Local London)

Families ask how July 7 bombers got through MI5 net

1:02am Tuesday 1st May 2007

• Print
• Email
• Share

An official inquiry into how the Security Service allowed two of the ringleaders of the July 7 bombings to slip through its fingers was demanded last night by survivors of the outrage, bereaved relatives and politicians.

They spoke out at the end of the UK's biggest-ever terror trial when it emerged that MI5 had trailed two of the key figures in the July 7 plot.

MI5 officers came across Mohammed Sidique Khan and his right-hand man, Shehzad Tanweer, while investigating another group of terrorists who were convicted at the Old Bailey yesterday.

Five men will spend a total of 200 years in jail for their part in that plot.

In the course of the inquiry, Khan and Tanweer were dismissed as peripheral figures and their activities were not investigated fully.

Just 16 months after being tracked by MI5, their terror cell killed 52 people on London's transport network.

The second circle of "ruthless" Muslim extremists, led by Omar Khyam, 25, from Sussex, planned to use 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser as the basic ingredient for a bomb attack on a busy nightclub or shopping centre.

Khyam and four of his accomplices were convicted at the end of the massive police investigation code-named Operation Crevice. They were all handed life sentences.

But the end of the year-long trial was overshadowed by details about links between Khyam and the July 7 bombers. Relatives and survivors said the case for an independent inquiry was now "overwhelming".

Rachel North, who survived the blast on the Piccadilly Line train, said: "Now that we have discovered these men were very much on the radar of the Security Service and could have been stopped, that is going to be very difficult to come to terms with.

"This has fuelled my desire for an independent inquiry because it appears we have not been told the truth about what happened and what we knew about these bombers prior to 7/7."

Graham Foulkes, who lost his 22-year-old son David on July 7, said he was "absolutely overwhelmed with a sense of sheer disbelief".

He added: "The consequences of that level of incompetence were such that my son was killed. That is truly appalling.

"Could the bombings have been prevented? As a father who lost a son, I am drawn to that conclusion."

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said MI5 made a "mistake" by not maintaining surveillance on the July 7 bombers.

Conservatives and Liberal Democrats demanded a full inquiry into why the security agencies failed to use intelligence gathered during Operation Crevice to prevent the 7/7 atrocities.

They called on Home Secretary John Reid to explain why the government said in the aftermath of the 2005 outrages that those involved were not known to the security services.

But Mr Reid ruled out a public inquiry, claiming it would divert the police and security services away from the fight against terrorism.

He paid tribute to police and MI5, but added: "It is important to remember that 100% commitment can never guarantee 100% success."

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) - which published a lengthy report on the July 7 bombings last summer - has been asked to "reappraise" all questions arising from the trial, he added.

ISC chairman Paul Murphy MP issued a statement which insisted all the original report's conclusions still applied, and added that there were "no culpable failures" by the intelligence agencies.

Security and police sources have stressed that at the time they believed Khan and his associates were involved only in minor fraud.

The revelations will heap pressure on MI5's new head, Jonathan Evans, who took over from Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller just days ago.

• Print
• Email
• Share