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MI5: Bomber was no threat
17/07/2005 07:45 - (SA)
London - Britain's domestic intelligence agency MI5 opened a file last year on one of the London bomb suspects, but dropped the investigation after deciding he posed no threat, a British newspaper reported.
Mohammad Sidique Khan was subject to a routine threat assessment when his name cropped up during an investigation in 2004, but the security service decided not to put him under surveillance, The Sunday Times reported.
Police believe the 30-year-old classroom assistant was responsible for the bombing of the Edgware Road train on July 7, in which he and six others died.
The probe focused on an alleged plot to blow up a 600kg truck bomb outside a target in London, said to be a Soho nightclub, an unnamed senior government official told The Sunday Times.
Britain's home office had no immediate comment on the claims.
MI5 is said to have discovered in 2004 that Khan had been visiting a house used by a man who met one of the suspected plotters.
However, officers apparently decided that as he was only "indirectly linked" to the affair, he posed no risk and no action was taken.
Only a "quick assessment" was made of Khan, the official told the paper.
Like hundreds of others linked to the inquiry, he was judged to be "on the periphery" of the suspect's cell network.
"You made quick assessments of them to decide whether or not they were a threat," the official said.
"None of the other people were a threat, including Khan."
The official acknowledged MI5 risked heavy criticism if it was found to have overlooked a serious threat, but said the agency was starved of resources.
"We've only got finite resources. You can only concentrate resources on those people who are a direct threat to national security," he told the paper.
- AFP
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