How he got in, and whatever failure of communication between German and British officials that made this possible should be urgently investigated and corrected. “Germany Terror Plot Suspect On Run in Britain,” from The Times of London:
A key suspect in the alleged plot to mount an attack in Germany on the scale of 9/11 is on the run in Britain, German security officials disclosed Saturday.
Scotland Yard counterterrorism detectives are hunting the man, who escaped from Germany after a plot to explode bombs at Frankfurt airport and a U.S. airbase. The collective power of the bombs would have exceeded those in Madrid and London in 2004 and 2005.
The plot was foiled on Sept. 4 when three men were arrested at a rented holiday apartment near the central German town of Kassel. Police recovered chemicals and bomb-making equipment which investigators believe would have led to the biggest loss of life since the 9/11 attacks in America six years ago.
About 10 other members of the gang were said by German prosecutors to have escaped and one is now in Britain. The arrested three “” two of whom were German nationals who had converted to Islam “” were alleged by prosecutors to be members of an Al Qaeda splinter group called the Islamic Jihad Union.
At the time the British and German authorities denied that there were any links between the cell and Britain. Security sources also played down reports that there had been telephone contact between members of the cell and people in Britain.
However, it emerged Saturday that the Germans have told Britain that at least one of the fugitives has since made his way to this country. A security dragnet has been put in place by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command to try to arrest the
man.