Terror suspect given legal aid to fund asylum bid
A TUNISIAN terror suspect from the holiday resort where 30 Britons were massacred received tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money to fund an attempt to return to Britain.
Habib Ignaoua was extradited from the UK to face terrorism charges in Italy and is now demanding the right to return to Britain.
It can be revealed that despite being ruled a national security risk by the intelligence agencies, he has received as much as £100,000 in legal aid to fund his legal battle.
A Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) hearing rejected Ignaoua’s appeal in July, after hearing secret evidence from the security services that he continues to present a threat to national security.
But Ignaoua claims the UK authorities’ refusal to offer him asylum is unlawful and “shames” British justice. After being tracked down by The
Sunday Telegraph to his home in Sousse, he said: “The English – who are known for their respect for justice and freedom – were not fair to me. I don’t see any reason why the British authorities are banning me from returning.”
Ignaoua, 54, was deported to Tunisia in 2013 after his acquittal in Italy on terror charges.
He had been accused of recruiting jihadists and sending them to terror training camps. He returned to Sousse, where, in June this year, jihadist gunman Seifeddine Rezgui Yacoubi massacred 38 people, including 30 British holidaymakers.
Ignaoua has been linked to Ansar alSharia, a radical Islamist group that was originally blamed by the Tunisian government for the Sousse attack. However, security sources said Ignaoua was not being investigated in connection with the massacre at the resort,
Ignaoua has mounted a long-running court battle, funded by the British taxpayer, to overturn an exclusion order, signed by Theresa May, to prevent him returning to Britain. It is the latest case of a terror suspect using the legal aid system to fight deportation.
In August The Sunday Telegraph highlighted how four suspects linked to the Isil executioner “Jihadi John” had been granted hundreds of thou- sands of pounds to sue the British Government.
The Ministry of Justice admitted that Ignaoua’s case had been paid for by the British taxpayer. A source said the legal aid bill was not likely to exceed £100,000.
Ignaoua’s case dates back to 1991, when he fled Tunisia claiming that he had been tortured after being detained by the security services. In his absence the Tunisian military courts found him guilty on three occasions of terrorism offences and sentenced him to long terms in prison.
Ignaoua fled to Italy and settled in a town outside Milan. He was a frequent visitor to Milan’s Islamic Cultural Institute and mosque, an alleged hotbed for Islamists. When Italian authorities launched a crackdown on the mosque, Ignaoua went on the run again.
In February 2004, he made his way to Britain on a false passport, claiming to have come via Libya and Syria.
Here, using two different names, he made two separate claims for asylum as a political dissident in fear of persecution.
According to his supporters Ignaoua was “living peacefully” and working in a launderette, when in June 2007 he was arrested in a raid on his home in Finsbury Park, north London, in a joint operation with the Italian authorities.
A European arrest warrant claimed that while in Italy, Ignaoua had helped arrange false documents for jihadi recruits going to Afghanistan.
He was finally deported to Italy in November 2008 and subsequently acquitted of terrorism charges by a court in Milan, in July 2010, and two years later was acquitted of further offences.