Isil fundraiser on watch list flees UK to join jihadists in Syria planning terror attacks
A SENIOR fundraiser for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant under a strict counter-terrorism order has managed to flee the UK to join jihadists in Syria.
Mohammed Khaled, 45, who lived in west London, had been placed on a terror sanctions list and had his assets frozen. The security services believed he was using his London base to raise tens of thousands of pounds for Isil.
His disappearance raises questions about the ability of UK authorities to keep control over Britain’s borders.
It follows claims that one of the terrorists behind the Paris attacks visited two British cities in the run-up to the atrocity, in which 130 people were murdered. It is claimed that phone calls were made to Britain by one or more of the Paris gunmen in the days before the attack.
The apparent failure to monitor dangerous terrorists leaves David Cameron open to criticism that Britain needs to better protect its borders.
A High Court judgment uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph details the belief of security services that Khaled, who is Syrian-born, is back in his home country and possibly planning terrorist activities against the UK.
It is not clear when Khaled left the UK, but as recently as May a new order was issued against him closing his accounts and blocking transactions. The court papers uncovered by The
Sunday Telegraph show the security services believed that Khaled, who uses nine aliases, “had in fact gone to Syria in order to engage in terrorist activities there. His support and funding of Isil were the basis of the order.”
The French or Belgian jihadist involved in the Paris attacks is thought to have slipped briefly into the UK earlier this year and travelled to London, Birmingham and Kent, where he is understood to have met individuals suspected of being capable of plotting or assisting terrorist activity in Britain.
The wife and children of a notorious hate preacher with links to “Jihadi John” have won the right to UK citizenship. The family of Hani al-Sibai took Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to court after she blocked their citizenship. It will now be near impossible to deport him.