Police and MI5 to face major probe over terror operations
SECURITY services are to mount a review into anti-terror operations, it emerged yesterday, as all three London Bridge attackers were identified.
The police and MI5 face mounting questions as the third attacker was named as Youssef Zaghba, a 22-year-old Italian national of Moroccan descent, who was living in east London.
He reportedly told Italian authorities: “I’m going to be a terrorist,” when stopped at Bologna’s airport last year amid suspicion he was intending to travel on to Syria. He was then flagged to Moroccan and British counterparts, it was claimed.
Scotland Yard said Zaghba was not a police or MI5 “subject of interest” but it comes after it was revealed fellow terror attacker Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, had been known to security services.
It means perpetrators in all three of the terrorist atrocities to hit Britain this year had at some point appeared on security agencies’ radars.
Prime Minister Theresa May said a review into Saturday’s outrage would be expected.
Meanwhile, tributes were paid to “one in a million” Australian nurse Kirsty Boden – the attack’s third victim to be named.
Her family said: “As she ran towards danger, in an effort to help people on the bridge, Kirsty sadly lost her life.”
ALL three London Bridge terrorists have been identified as security services prepare to launch a review into the atrocity amid mounting questions for police and MI5.
The third attacker has been named as Youssef Zaghba, an Italian national of Moroccan descent, who was living in east London.
He was stopped at Bologna’s airport trying to fly to Turkey in March last year amid concern he was intending to travel on to Syria, according to reports.
Zaghba is said to have told Italian authorities: “I’m going to be a terrorist,” while officers reportedly found Islamic State-related material on his mobile phone when they intercepted him.
He was prevented from continuing his journey to Istanbul, placed on a watch list and flagged to Moroccan and British counterparts, it was claimed.
Italian media said authorities took Zaghba’s phone and passport but they were returned to him as there was insufficient evidence to accuse him of any terrorrelated offence.
There has been no official comment on the reports from UK authorities, but Scotland Yard said Zaghba was not a police or MI5 “subject of interest”.
The latest developments come with counter-terror agencies already facing intense scrutiny after it was revealed another member of the terror gang, Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, had been known to security services.
Butt was investigated by officers in 2015 but they found no evidence he was planning an attack and he was “prioritised in the lower echelons of our investigative work”, police said.
The disclosure means perpetrators in all three of the terrorist outrages to hit Britain this year had at some point appeared on the radar of security agencies.
During a visit to a farm near Wrexham, Theresa May said a review had been launched after the Manchester bombing last month and she expected the same process following Saturday’s rampage.
The Prime Minister told Sky News: “MI5 and the police have already said they would be reviewing how they dealt with Manchester and I would expect them to do exactly the same in relation to London Bridge.”
Butt, a father of two who appeared on Channel 4 documentary The Jihadis Next Door, was also reported to the anti-terror hotline in 2015 for showing signs of “extremism or radicalisation”.
Lord Carlile, a former counter-terror laws watchdog, said: “I feel a sense of disappointment that the perpetrator Butt slipped off the radar.
“In my view we need to review what happened in his case, and learn the lessons so that the methodology of the response to known suspicions is improved.”
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson acknowledged that authorities will face questions.
He told Sky News: “People are going to look at the front pages today and they are going to say, ‘How on earth could we have let this guy or possibly more through the net? What happened? How can he possibly be on a Channel 4 programme and then committing atrocities like this?’ And that is a question that will need to be answered by MI5, by the police, as the investigation goes on. I can’t answer that question now.”
Asked if it was possible to prevent all suspects slipping through the net, Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the BBC: “Unfortunately it’s not, which is why we’ve always been at severe, which means an attack is highly likely.
“The fact is that until this past three months we’ve had a lot of success at stopping a huge number of them. These past
three months mean we’ve entered a different phase, which is why we need to do something differently.”
But she told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour it was not for her or Mr Johnson to try to answer the questions about how Butt managed to carry out his attack.
“It’s not really for me or for the Foreign Secretary to say how that happened or what happened,” she said.
“It’s like any incident, you will look and find out whether there is something to learn.
“I can say with absolute confidence that they will want to do that, but I can say that without, I hope, putting any sort of suggestion of blame because it’s very easy to rush in and say, ‘what went wrong?”’ In other developments: Irish police have arrested a second man in connection with the London Bridge terror outrage. A man aged in his thirties was detained in Wexford, in the south east, at around 5pm on Tuesday as part of ongoing investigations into Irish links to the atrocity. The suspect is being questioned about documentation connected to Rachid Redouane.
Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi may have stored items used to assemble the device in a Nissan Micra, police have said. Greater Manchester Police said “significant evidence” was found in the white car, which has an “R” registration plate and was seized from Devell House in Rusholme on Friday.
Detectives arrested a 27-year-old man under the Terrorism Act at an address in Barking, east London, shortly after 8am yesterday. The arrest took the total number held as part of the investigation to 13, with 12 released without charge.
A search warrant was being executed at an address in Barking, while earlier yesterday officers searched an address in Ilford. Nobody has been detained at that location.
Intensive inquiries are being mounted to establish how the three men knew one another, with police appealing for anyone with information to contact them.
A minute’s silence was observed at 11am in memory of the victims.
Australian nurse Kirsty Boden was the third victim killed in the attack to be named. Her family paid tribute, saying: “As she ran towards danger, in an effort to help people on the bridge, Kirsty sadly lost her life.”
A British Transport Police officer told how he chased the terrorists after his colleague was stabbed in the eye.
Fifteen people remain in a critical condition.
A man was shot and injured by police in Paris after attempting to attack an officer with a hammer near Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Zaghba, Pakistan-born British citizen Butt and Rachid Redouane, 30, who claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan, launched a murderous rampage around London Bridge and Borough Market on Saturday night.
ALONDONER, a Canadian woman, an Australian nurse and a French national were among the seven people killed in Saturday night’s attack in the capital.
Canadian Christine Archibald, 30, was the first to be named.
She died in her fiancé’s arms after being struck by the speeding van on London Bridge.
Her family said she would have had “no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death”.
James McMullan, 32, from Hackney, was last seen outside the Barrowboy And Banker pub and his sister said police have told her his bank card was found on a body at the scene of the attack.
Melissa McMullan described her brother as “an inspiration” and told Sky News: “While our pain will never diminish, it is important for us all to carry on with our lives in direct opposition to those who wish to destroy us, and remember that hatred is the refuge of small-minded individuals and will only breed more.”
She added that police told her they were unable to formally identify him until the coroner’s report is released.
Australian nurse Kirsty Boden was killed after she ran towards danger to help people, her family said.
Relatives said the 28-year-old was “loved and adored by her family, friends and boyfriend”, while colleagues at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in central London described her as “one in a million”.
“As she ran towards danger, in an effort to help people on the bridge, Kirsty sadly lost her life,” her family said in a statement. “We are so proud of Kirsty’s brave actions which demonstrate how selfless, caring and heroic she was.”
A French citizen was also killed, Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
The victim has not yet been named by officials or his family, but French newspapers reported he worked in a bar in the London Bridge area.
Mr Le Drian told a press conference on Monday that two French citizens are missing and eight were taken to hospital, four of whom are in a critical state and two of whom have been discharged.
Four people reported missing have not been seen since the attack:
Sebastien Belanger’s friends said the French chef was last seen drinking at the Boro Bistro near Borough Market when the area came under attack.
Two of his companions that night escaped uninjured, but the fate of the 36-year-old remains unknown and his loved ones – who have since printed leaflets in a plea for information – believe he is still alive.
Originally from Angers, western France, Mr Belanger has lived in London for several years and his friend, Damien Lecomte, 34, said: “It’s frustrating, the people are trying to help us as much as they can, but they don’t have much information at the moment.”
Xavier Thomas and his girlfriend, Christine Delcros, are said to have both been victims.
Nathalie Cros Brohan said on Facebook on Monday that she was on her way to London after her sister, Ms Delcros, was injured and taken to hospital, while Mr Thomas is yet to be found.
“I call on all those who have news of Xavier Thomas who is missing,” she posted. “We’re terribly worried.”
The family of Sara Zelenak told Australia’s ABC news they are “bracing for the worst” after she became separated from friends on Saturday night.
Pri Goncalves said on Facebook she was the last person to see her, writing: “I called her a lot of times but she never picked up the phone. She hasn’t been seen since the attack and we are all scared, worried but hoping she will be all right.”
Ms Zelenak’s mother, Julie Wallace, told Brisbane radio station 97.3FM she planned to fly to London to look for her daughter, who she described as a “very smart, sensible girl”.
Spanish banker Ignacio Echeverria, 39, remains missing after trying to help an injured woman in Borough Market, his father said, based on the account of his son’s friend, who was at the scene.
Joaquin Echeverria told the Associated Press that the family was flying to London yesterday to join other relatives, adding authorities had not shared any information with them.
The son’s employer, HSBC, has provided the services of a private detective to help in the hunt for information.
Dozens of others were injured, including four police officers:
A British Transport Police (BTP) officer was stabbed in the head, face and leg after taking on the knifemen armed only with his baton.
An off-duty Metropolitan Police officer was in hospital with serious injuries after he confronted the attackers with no weapon.
Two other Met officers, who were both on duty, received less serious injuries during the rampage.
New Zealander Oliver Dowling, 32, from Christchurch, is reported to have been left in a coma after being stabbed in the face, neck and stomach.
It was reported that his girlfriend, Marie Bondeville, was also injured.
Sunday Express business editor Geoff Ho was left in intensive care after being stabbed in the throat when he tried to help a wounded bouncer.
He has tweeted: “Thank you every one for the best wishes. I got out of surgery yesterday and am on the mend.”
Two Australians were stabbed in the neck, while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the government had “very real concerns” about another two citizens who may have been caught up in the attacks.
Candice Hedge is recovering in St Thomas’ Hospital, while Andrew Morrison received stitches for a wound and was on his way home to Australia.
Daniel O’Neill, 23, was left with a 7in wound from his stomach to his back and was saved by a friend who applied a tourniquet and took him downstairs in a pub.
Millwall FC fan Roy Larner, 47, told The Sun he was knifed eight times as terrorists targeted drinkers at the Black & Blue restaurant and bar.
Speaking to the paper from hospital, he said he tried to fight them off with his bare hands, adding: “They got me in my head, chest and both hands. There was blood everywhere.”