May: We can spot terrorists by bank activity

LONE wolf terrorists could one day be identified in advance from their financial records, under plans to be put forward by Theresa May today.

The Prime Minister will urge world leaders to pour resources into new technology to identify patterns of financial transactions in the buildup to a terrorist attack.

Speaking at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Mrs May will also call on leaders to close ‘safe spaces’ in the world’s financial system that are being exploited by terror groups plotting attacks on the West.

Anti-terror police are investigating the finances of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi amid questions about how he paid for bombmaking equipment and trips to Libya. Government sources said investigations into previous terror plots had identified transfers from abroad in the run-up to attacks.

A source said Mrs May wants the world to focus on identifying small flows of money needed by even the most basic lone wolf attacker.

‘These small transactions are hard

‘The threat is evolving’

to identify but this challenge cannot be left unaddressed,’ he said.

Mrs May, who flew to Hamburg for the summit last night, said: ‘We know that the terrorist threat is evolving. We have seen the threat spread out of Syria and Iraq into other countries and online.

‘We must combat the threat from every angle. This includes taking measures against permissive environments for terrorist financing and monitoring the dispersal of foreign fighters from battle.

‘We can change the balance of the fight when we work together.’

Mrs May will also urge leaders to do more to tackle the threat posed by former jihadis returning from Syria and Iraq.

But the Prime Minister has faced criticism from the Liberal Democrats over her failure to publish a controversial Home Office report into extremist groups in the UK, which is said to expose financial links between some groups and Saudi Arabia.

Mrs May has been accused of sitting on the report to avoid embarrassment to the UK’s Saudi allies, who will also be at the G20 summit.