‘Terrorist’ claim left off alert on attacker

BRITISH officials have hit back at claims from Italy that fuelled fresh pressure for security agencies over the London Bridge attack.

As the fall-out from the atrocity threatened to create a diplomatic row, sources reportedly disputed suggestions that UK authorities were alerted to the terrorist intentions of one of the perpetrators.

Youssef Zaghba, an Italian national of Moroccan descent, was stopped at Bologna airport in March last year and prevented from travelling to Turkey amid suspicions he intended to go on to Syria.

He was not prosecuted, but reports from Italy have indicated his name was listed on a Europewide security database and British authorities were alerted.

But Italian officials did not provide full details to the Schengen Information System (SIS) in relation to Zaghba’s attempt to travel to Syria, sources told The Times.

While Zaghba was stopped at Stansted airport in January, the SIS alert seen by Border Force officials did not include the fact that he had told Italians he “wanted to be a terrorist”, the newspaper reported.

Instead, the alert is said to have provided information that suggested he had been involved in a criminal matter.

Reports suggesting one of the terror gang members was on the radar of authorities in Italy intensified the pressure on British agencies already facing intense scrutiny following three deadly outrages this year.

Zaghba’s mother has said he was monitored by Italian intelligence agents each time he came to visit her in the country after the initial run-in with authorities, while Italy’s police chief has said his force has its “documents and conscience clear” over the matter.

The Home Office has not commented as there is an ongoing police investigation, while Scotland Yard said Zaghba was not a police or MI5 “subject of interest”.

Even if he was flagged on a watchlist, Britain may not have been able to block Zaghba from entering the country because of EU free movement rules.

An individual can be barred if they represent a “genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society”.

Directives state that previous convictions should not in themselves constitute grounds for measures taken on grounds of public policy or security, but in any event, Zaghba was not arrested or charged in Italy after he was stopped at the airport.

MI5 and police faced questions after it emerged another of the London Bridge attackers, 27-yearold Khuram Shazad Butt, had been investigated in 2015. The third, Rachid Redouane, was not known to security services.