Why was 21/7 plot leader given a British passport?

The 'absurd' rules which

allowed a 21/7 bomber to get

a British passport despite

serious criminal convictions

have been laid bare.

The development comes as two men accused of plotting to bomb London two weeks after 7/7 will face a retrial after the July 21 jury failed to return verdicts in their cases.

The jury was discharged yesterday after reaching deadlock on Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 34, of no fixed address, and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London, who both deny conspiracy to murder.

The only time Eritrean-born

Muktar Said Ibrahim used his

passport was to fly to Pakistan

for an Al Qaeda training camp.

There, the 29-year-old learned to

make the bombs which he hoped

would cause carnage on London's

transport system.

He had been allowed to fly to

Islamabad despite being on bail for

an extremist offence.

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And when he returned to Britain,

a warrant for his arrest was not

executed even though he was on an

MI5 watch list.

It also emerged yesterday that all

four bombers were known to MI5

more than a year before the

attempted suicide attacks, having

cropped up during surveillance on

another suspected terror cell.

Ibrahim, 29, Yassin Omar, 26,

Ramzi Mohammed, 25, and Hussain

Osman, 28 will be sentenced

today after being convicted on

Monday of conspiracy to murder

following a six-month trial at Woolwich

Crown Court in London.

The jury was discharged yesterday

after failing to reach verdicts

on two other alleged plotters,

Manfo Kwako Asiedu, 34, and Adel

Yahya, 24.

The Crown Prosecution

Service will announce today

whether they will face a retrial.

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The Daily Mail has learned that

Ibrahim, who came to the UK as an

asylum-seeker in 1992, was granted

a passport despite openly listing

his previous convictions on his

application form for British citizenship

in 2004.

He had been given a 12-month

supervision order for indecently

assaulting a 15-year-old girl in 1993,

then in 1995 he was sentenced to

five and half years in jail for two

violent robberies.

Home Office rules on naturalisation,

seen by the Daily Mail, recommend

that immigrants convicted

of even the most heinous

offences – including rape and murder

– are approved for citizenship,

provided they are not caught reoffending

for a 'clear period'.

In Ibrahim's case, he was free to apply just 30 months after his

release.

The Home Office does not keep

figures on how many ex-convicts

are granted citizenship each year,

but the total is likely to run into

the thousands.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of

the pressure group Migrationwatch

UK, said: "It is absolutely absurd

we should grant citizenship to

those who have committed serious

criminal offences. Why should we

give it to them at all?"

Shadow Home Secretary David

Davis said: "A UK passport is a

privilege, not a right. The fact the

Home Office has no idea how many

convicted offenders have been

given a UK passport is indicative of

the shambles that is the Government's

immigration system."

Mr Davis demanded action over

failures that left the 21/7 and 7/7

bombers as well as the alleged

Glasgow airport car bombers free

to strike despite members of all

three plots being known to MI5.

"This is yet more evidence that

reinforces the case for an independent

inquiry so we can learn

the lessons of these events

and improve our security," he

added.

The Mail understands that MI5

had the names of all four 21/7

bombers as early as April 2004 as

contacts of another alleged terror

plotter who cannot be named for

legal reasons.

They were all photographed by

surveillance officers at a 'training

camp' in Cumbria the following

month and three of them were

photographed at sermons given by

hate preacher Abu Hamza.

The names and faces were not

matched up until after 21/7

because MI5 was busy investigating

dozens of other plots.

Ibrahim was allowed to board a

flight to Pakistan in December

2004 despite arousing the suspicions

of a Special Branch officer.

The Daily Mail can reveal that

Ibrahim was driven to the airport

by a man who was under MI5

surveillance at the time, suspected

of plotting to blow up London

landmarks including Big Ben.

He cannot be named for legal reasons.

The two other men who were

travelling with Ibrahim were also

known to MI5 as associates of terror

suspects.

Ibrahim himself was

on bail on a public order offence.

The Metropolitan Police said

Ibrahim's bail conditions did not

ban him from travelling.

Security sources said MI5 had

asked to be informed when Ibrahim

returned to the UK but because he

was not considered 'high priority'

he was not placed under surveillance

or arrested.