The Metropolitan Police announced on Friday (8) that the ongoing searches within London’s Richmond Park were connected to the pursuit of a former army soldier suspected of terrorism offenses.
Daniel Abed Khalife, aged 21, is thought to have escaped London’s HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday (6) morning. His escape reportedly involved exiting the prison kitchen, where he was employed, and securing himself beneath a van.
A major manhunt is underway to track him down, with enhanced security checks at ports and airports which have led to delays for passengers.
London’s LBC radio said police helicopters had been seen circling the park in west London early on Friday.
Khalife, who was discharged from the army in May, is accused of eliciting or trying to elicit information likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism while he was based at barracks in central England in 2021, and also making a bomb hoax by placing three canisters with wires on a desk.
He is also charged with obtaining information which might be “directly or indirectly useful to an enemy”.
(Reuters)
