Why did MI5 let soldier killer go to Kenya a SECOND time?
- Michael Adebolajo and accomplice Michael Adebowale linked to many radicals
- Kenya warned Britain Adebolajo was dangerous when deported in 2010
By Keith Gladdis In Mombasa, Kenya and Chris Greenwood
PUBLISHED:17:33 EST, 27 May 2013| UPDATED:17:52 EST, 27 May 2013
MI5 faces growing questions over the Woolwich murderers after it emerged that Michael Adebolajo was left free to return to Kenya despite the fact the country had deported him as a terrorist.
Adebolajo, seen wielding a knife with his hands covered in blood after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, was booted out of the African country in 2010 after he was caught attempting to enter Somalia to fight with extremists.
Kenya warned Britain that he was a ‘dangerous radical’ intent on waging war on the West – but he was free to return at least once last year to meet with fellow jihadists, the Daily Mail understands.
Radicalised: Michael Adebolajo brandishing bloodied knives after the murder of Lee Rigby last week
Arrested: In 2010 Michael Adebolajo, second from right, was among nine suspected members of the Al-Shabaab movement captured by Kenyan police
Sources in Africa say the 28-year-old was seen in Kenya as late as last November, in the company of a radical cleric who was also being monitored by security forces.
Adebolajo is also suspected of making a third visit to the country, which has become a gateway for young radicalised Britons wishing to fight alongside jihadists in Somalia.
The British police and security services now face questions over why they did not do more to stop Adebolajo and his accomplice, Michael Adebowale.
Despite a string of warning signs stretching back ten years, Adebolajo is said to have been considered to be ‘low-risk’ by MI5.
Police may have known about his extreme beliefs as early as 2003, when he joined Al-Mahajiroun, an extremist group which was monitored by the security service and later banned.
Known to police: Adebolajo was part of a mob that attacked an EDL March in Harrow in 2009
From yesterday's Daily Mail
He was photographed at high-profile protests – even standing next to hate preacher Anjem Choudary – and was arrested in 2006 after an ugly scuffle at the Old Bailey.
Seven years later, the Kenyan authorities returned Adebolajo to Britain, warning that he was a dangerous terrorist intent on waging war.
Sources in the Kenyan capital Nairobi claim Adebolajo may have gone on to enter Kenya on two occasions in 2012 using false passports.
It is claimed that he was arrested with five others last February, as he tried to reach Somalia once again.
Instead of being taken to court, he would have been put straight on a flight to the UK, under a new policy which sees all foreigners attempting to cross the border removed from Kenya.
A second claim is that Adebolajo entered Kenya even later, again using a false passport, to meet with a cleric named Hassan Makbul. The pair are understood to have realised their cover had been blown, and fled to Tanzania in November.
The Mail understands the security forces were aware Adebolajo had left for Africa on at least one occasion, and may have allowed the journey to monitor who he would meet.
MI5 chief Andrew Parker is set to present a report to a Parliamentary committee on the case this week.
Kenya claims the British security services ‘ignored’ warnings about Adebolajo. An immigration official said: ‘This man had a mission to complete so we work on the assumption that he would have come back.’
Court documents seen by the Daily Mail reveal how determined Adebolajo’s gang were to join the Al Qaeda linked al-Shaabab in 2010. When they were arrested police also found al-Shaabab flags and uniforms.
The Kenyans also discovered Adebolajo had been radicalised by Sheikh Aboud Rogo, a cleric who was also close to Samantha Lewthwaite, the ‘white widow’ of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay.
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