The hunt for some of the UK’s most wanted terrorists will be disrupted by Brexit, a former counter terrorism chief has warned.
Sir Ivor Roberts, former Head of Counter Terrorism at the Foreign Office, says ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite is among the fugitives who could go further off the radar after the end of mutual security arrangements with the EU.
The British diplomat was involved in a key test of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) – one of the tools the UK no longer has access to.
He claims the fast-track extradition of terrorist Hussain Osman will be ‘impossible to replicate’ after the January 1 departure from the EU.
Sir Ivor was the British Ambassador to Italy at the time Osman was arrested in Rome over the failed plot to bomb London on July 21, 2005.
The UK is no longer part of the EAW and has also forfeited its membership of Europol and the Schengen Information System II (SIS II), which British law enforcement accessed around half a billion times annually.
Sir Ivor said: ‘The EU has a myriad of resources at its disposal, including the invaluable asset of Europol, the EU Agency for law enforcement cooperation.
‘Unfortunately after Brexit, the UK security services will need to work harder with our European counterparts to track suspects and confirmed terrorists. One of the main challenges is the withdrawal from the EAW.’
Osman was flown back to London in what was viewed as a successful test case for the EAW, before being brought to trial at Woolwich Crown Court along with three conspirators.
He was convicted and jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years in July 2007 for his part in the plot.
Sir Ivor said: ‘One of the terrorists who was part of the failed London bombing on 21 July that year ended up in Italy where he was promptly arrested.
‘Thanks to the EAW, he was extradited in just over 50 days from the day of his arrest.
‘A remarkable outcome, but one which now post-Brexit will be impossible to replicate.’
Mutual security arrangements that have ended also include the UK’s access to the real-time SIS II data-sharing system.
The database issues alerts about people, including terrorists returning from Iraq and Syria, and objects of interest such as weapons and cars.
Kevin Foster, Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, has told Metro.co.uk ‘the UK continues to be one of the safest countries in the world’.
The Home Office maintains that streamlined extradition procedures, fast exchanges of DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data and continued transfers of Passenger Name Record data are part of the new regime.
Sir Ivor, senior advisor to US think-tank the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), has spoken of the continued threat posed by Lewthwaite and other fugitives at a time the world’s focus shifts to the far-right in the wake of the deadly riot at the US Capitol.
The ‘terrorist influencer’ grew up in Aylesbury, Bucks, before becoming one of the global figureheads of Islamic extremism.
She was married to Germaine Lindsay, one of four suicide bombers who struck on July 7, 2005, and has been linked to the Westgate Mall massacre in Kenya.
The 30-year-old featured on a list of the top 20 most dangerous extremists issued by the CEP last week.
Sir Ivor said: ‘She is arguably the world’s most wanted female terrorist. Her reputation has made her a major terrorist influencer.
‘She has in the past helped recruit and mentor dozens of terrorists who have been training to make bombs and launch attacks in East Africa.
‘As she clearly retains no emotional attachment to the country where she was born, we can’t rule out a role for her to masterminding or inspiring an act of terror on British soil.
‘She has proved with the assistance of her Islamist protectors to be very capable of making herself invisible and accessing new documents and identities to evade capture, despite the best efforts of international security services.
‘Her whereabouts remain unknown but the latest information indicates she may be on the Somalia-Kenya border under the protection of her husband [Hassan Maalim Ibrahim, a.k.a. Sheikh Hassan] and al-Shabab.’
Sir Ivor has previously warned of the emergence of ‘unholy alliances’ of extremist and right-wing groups – especially in the online sphere.
He adds that security services need to remain vigilant about the continued threat posed by ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Sir Ivor said: ‘There have been several reports in the last few years of both organisations regrouping and getting stronger.
‘The nature of terrorist organisations is such that splinter groups rise from the ashes of their predecessors. We’ve seen this in the case of successors to the Provisional IRA.
‘In the case of ISIS, the caliphate as a territorial phenomenon may have suffered serious setbacks but their supporters, sympathisers and activists have not gone away as we have seen in a myriad number of often lone wolf or small cell Islamist attacks on Western targets.
‘There is also a very real danger that the growing focus on the developing threat from right-wing extremists might provoke an atrocity from Islamist terrorists to seize back the narrative.
‘By definition, terrorist organisations are attention seekers who crave the oxygen of publicity. They need to be in the spotlight to recruit followers and to try and force their agenda on others.
‘So while we are having to ramp up our intelligence operations on the far right, we cannot afford to take our eye off the ball when it comes to the threat from ISIS and al-Qaeda.’
‘Unprecedented security deal’
New Home Office measures include foreign criminals sentenced to more than a year in jail being banned from entering the UK.
From July, officials will start receiving advance data on all goods coming from the EU, which was not possible under existing rules.
Although SIS II carries millions of records, the department states that the majority of checks by UK law enforcement officials or police are routine and automated processes relating to documents – with less than 1% of records concerning persons of interest.
Kevin Foster, Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, said: ‘The UK continues to be one of the safest countries in the world.
‘We have world-class police, law enforcement and intelligence agencies and strong relationships with partners across the globe, including Interpol and the Five Eyes.
‘We’ve equipped the police with the powers and resources they need, including the power to detain internationally wanted criminals immediately.
‘Our unprecedented future security deal with the EU includes streamlined extradition arrangements and has been welcomed by law enforcement partners.
‘However, it’s important to remember the vast majority of co-operation on counter-terrorism happens outside of EU structures.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/16/terrorism-expert-warns-brexit-will-disrupt-hunt-for-uks-most-wanted-13912454/