UK airports in chaos as police hunt for suspected terrorist
Airline passengers have reportedly queued for hours, with some missing their flights, after airport staff searched for a suspected terrorist who escaped prison, Azernews reports, citing a foreign media outlet.
The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command sent an urgent appeal to UK ports and borders while a manhunt was under way for Daniel Abed Khalife.
Khalife escaped Wandsworth prison just before 8am on Wednesday while awaiting trial for terror and Official Secrets Act offences, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Travellers complained of queues lasting several hours at major UK airports – including Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and Glasgow Aiport.
Khalife, a 21-year-old serving member of the British Army, is reported to have escaped by clinging to the bottom of a delivery van after sneaking out of the prison kitchen.
He is accused of eliciting or trying to elicit information that could be useful for a terrorist on 2 August 2021; and breaching the Official Secrets Act by gathering information that could be useful to an enemy between 1 May 2019 and 6 January 2022. He has denied the charges.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We have a team of officers who are making extensive and urgent enquiries in order to locate and detain Khalife as quickly as possible.”