TERROR SLIPPED
New questions over intelligence but review finds anti-terror cops and spooks ‘got a great deal right’
v MI5 were “actively” investigating the ringleader of the London Bridge atrocity at the time of the rampage, it emerged yesterday.
An official report also found the Manchester Arena bombing could have been stopped “had the cards fallen differently”.
It confirmed three terrorists involved in four attacks that killed 36 people in the UK between March and June this year had been on authorities’ radars.
MI5 and police launched internal reviews to examine what was known about the perpetrators before the Westminster, Manchester Arena, London Bridge and Finsbury Park atrocities.
An independent assessment by David Anderson QC of their findings concluded there was “no cause for despair” and that most terror attacks continue to be successfully disrupted.
But he noted that, other than in the case of Finsbury Park, MI5 and police weren’t “entirely blindsided”.
The report said: “Khalid Masood (Westminster) and Salman Abedi (Manchester) had both been subjects of interest, and Khuram Butt (London Bridge) remained under active investigation.
“Substantial and appropriate coverage was in place around key individuals, and mechanisms designed to assess risk were working as intended.
“MI5 and counter-terrorism policing got a great deal right; particularly in the case of Manchester, they could have succeeded had the cards fallen differently.”
In response to the findings, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the blame “lies squarely” with the terrorists.
Abedi was not under active investigation when he detonated a suicide device after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in May, killing 22 people.
But Anderson’s review said MI5 had unspecified intelligence in the months before the attack which, “had its true significance been properly understood”, would have led to the suicide bomber being investigated.
The report said: “It is unknowable whether such an investigation would have allowed Abedi’s plans to be pre-empted and thwarted. MI5 assess that it would not.”
Abedi was also identified by a separate “data-washing exercise” as being one of a small number of former subjects of interest who merited further consideration. However, a meeting scheduled to consider the results of this process had not been held by the time of the bombing.
An opportunity was also missed to place Abedi on “ports action” after he travelled to Libya in April, the report found.
Butt, who led the three-strong gang behind the London Bridge van and knife attack that killed eight people in June, was the principal subject of an MI5 investigation from mid-2015 until the date of the deadly assault.
The report said material relating to Butt received in the two weeks prior to the attack did not identify activity that led up to it.
Another of the London Bridge gang, Youssef Zaghba, was placed on an EU warning list by Italian authorities in March
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