Phones and files checked in terror case

Garda terrorism officers are examining digital devices of a man arrested as part of a British jihadi investigation to establish who he has been in contact with.

Detectives from the Counter Terrorism International (CTI) unit are also going through documentation and other material taken from the man’s home.

The Algerian national was released without charge, overnight on Tuesday, and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing fraudulent identification documentation under terrorism legislation.

The investigation followed a request from the London Met after its Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) section uncovered ID documentation linked to Ireland.

The Irish Examiner understands that a document was unearthed during a search in Greece which was part of an investigation into Islamist terrorism.

Members of CTI, which is part of the Special Detective Unit, carried out three searches of addresses at 7am on Monday, two on the southside and one on the northside.

The suspect, aged in his 40s, was arrested at the northside property located in Drumcondra. He was questioned under Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorism Offences) Act 2015.

While the section relates to training for terrorism, sources indicate he was questioned for supplying fraudulent documentation for the facilitation of training or the financing of terrorism.

“Documents are needed for a whole lot of things,” said one security source. “They are needed for travel and to open bank accounts and for passports.”

He said a “good forger” was “invaluable” to both terrorists and criminal gangs.

An amount of documentation and digital devices were removed from properties searched.

“They won’t be just trawling the material seized, they will be looking for something specific,” said the source.

“They will also check his computers and mobile phones to see who he was in contact with.”

Investigations are likely to take some time, it was emphasised, and can result in other inquiries. Officers will keep the British police updated on developments.

The Crime and Security Section at Garda HQ liaises with the British security service MI5 on intelligence matters, while the Special Detective Unit liaises directly with the Met’s CTC section (also known as SO15) on investigative matters.

This operation is the latest involving a linkage with jihadi terrorism abroad, including the involvement of Rachid Redouane, who had lived in Dublin, in the London Bridge attacks, and arrests last May of an Algerian and Moroccan on suspicion of financing Isis.

“No country is immune from terrorist activity, including planning for attacks,” said a security source.

“Fortunately, we don’t have planning for an attack in this jurisdiction, but there are plenty of people willing to support attacks in other countries.”