A SUSPECTED terrorist who served in the British Army has escaped jail after "sneaking out of the kitchen and clinging to a delivery van".
Police have launched an urgent manhunt for ex-soldier Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, after he fled HMP Wandsworth, south London, at around 7.50am this morning.
UK airports have descended into chaos as security staff work to stop flight risk Khalife leaving the country.
Cops issued an alert to UK ports and airports about his escape, with passengers now stuck in long queues.
It is believed that Khalife is "most likely" still in the London area – but he has connections to the north west and could be "anywhere in the UK".
IHe was working in the kitchen and was wearing a chef's uniform, and is believed to have held on to straps on the truck to make his escape.
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Khalife was last seen wearing the uniform of a white t-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toe cap boots, cops confirmed.
The ex-soldier is accused of planting fake bombs at a UK military base.
He is of slim build, has short brown hair and is around 6ft 2ins tall.
The Sun understands the cat-B jail has since been put on lockdown following the escape.
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The Met Police confirmed an alert has been put out by terror cops to police forces and law enforcement agencies across the country – including those at ports and borders.
Khalife has a military background and previously served in the British Army.
He is currently awaiting trial for terrorism offences.
It was alleged Khalife left three canisters with wires at MOD Stafford in January this year.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard he left the device "with the intention of inducing in another the belief the item was likely to explode or ignite".
The full terror charges also say he "elicited" personal information about soldiers from the Ministry of Defence Joint Personnel Administration System which was "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".
Khalife has links to the Kingston area with the Met Police believing he is most likely still in London.
However, there are concerns he could have travelled further afield with major airports up and down the country being swooped in on.
Terror cops are desperately searching for Khalife and ensuring no one passes through security without rigorous checks.
Security queues at Glasgow Airport and Manchester have slowed down as officials ramp up security and vigilantly check the ID of every person planning to catch a flight.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “We have a team of officers who are making extensive and urgent enquiries in order to locate and detain Khalife as quickly as possible.
"However, the public can help us as well and should anyone see Khalife, or have any information as to where he might be, then please call 999 or the immediately.
“I also want to reassure the public that we have no information which indicates, nor any reason to believe that Khalife poses a threat to the wider public, but our advice if you do see him is not to approach him and call 999 straight away.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are working with the Metropolitan Police to recapture this prisoner and are urgently investigating how he escaped.”
If anyone sees Khalife they are advised not to approach him but to call 999 immediately, quoting reference CAD 1631/06SEP23.
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Around 1,300 convicts are at Wandsworth Prison with notable past inmates including tennis legend Boris Becker.
Wimbledon champion Becker served time in Wandsworth for fraud before he was released in December last year.
Khalife’s full list of offences
According to the Met Police, this is the full list of Khalife's offences:
- August 2, 2021 at Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire, elicited or attempted to elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000.
- On or before January, 2, 2023 at Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire, placed an article with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property, contrary to section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Khalife appeared the Old Bailey on 21 July, where the following offence was added to his indictment:
On dates between 1 May, 2019 and 6 January, 2022 Daniel Khalife obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person, articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be or might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy, contrary to section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911.
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