Ban on terrorist at military barracks may be relaxed

THE new Home Secretary is considering relaxing restrictions on a British terrorist linked to a gun and bomb plot in the UK – which would allow him to travel close to a Army Reserve barracks.

The 28-year-old man of Algerian descent is the only one of 3,000 UK residents on an extremist watchlist who is subject to the Government’s strict counterterrorism control measures.

A court judgment released on Friday reveals Amber Rudd is considering a request from a judge to relax a ban that stops him from passing close to an Army Reserve (formerly Territorial Army) barracks where he lives.

Last year, the man, who for legal reasons is identified only as EB, was sentenced to three years in jail for possessing bomb-making instructions linked to terrorism, but was released three weeks later for time served and placed under a Terrorist Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIM) order.

Security chiefs believe he also travelled to Syria with another suspect and returned to Britain, where the two plotted to buy firearms for an attack at home.

Mr Justice Mitting said: “The two exclusion zones about which EB complains in the provincial city are the bus station from which National Express services run and a small area of the centre of the provincial city in which a Territorial Army barracks is located.”

He added: “Maintenance of the first exclusion zone is clearly necessary. During the course of the hearing, EB’s representatives canvassed the possibility that the second exclusion zone could be varied so as to permit him to travel through it on public transport, without alighting.

“This is a proposal which the Secretary of State should consider, but will need the advice of the security service and police before making a decision. Until she has that advice, I cannot say her decision to maintain the exclusion zone is unreasonable.” Under the TPIM, EB is prevented from entering London or visiting a named barracks in the city to which he has been relocated. His exclusion from travelling close to the named barracks will raise concerns about the terror threat to the military from Islamist extremists.

Although the judge has asked Mrs Rudd to relax the barracks ban, EB lost his legal battle to have his controls and surveillance weakened. It has emerged that after he was released, he was allowed to take part in an Islamic marriage ceremony while subject to strict counterterrorism restrictions.

The judge said the Home Secretary was right to conclude that EB had an “Islamist terrorist mindset” and declined to relax the controls.