Al-Qaida supporters ‘will be deported if they pose threat’

THE Government will deport the estimated 40 al-Qaida supporters living in the Republic if they pose a security threat in the wake of the London bombings, Defence Minister Willie O’Dea insisted yesterday.

Gardaí and the military have confirmed they passed on the files of at least 40 al-Qaida sympathisers in Ireland to the British police after a wing of the Islamic fundamentalist organisation claimed responsibility for the London bombings.

One is believed to be very close to Osama Bin Laden’s number two and others have links to extremists in Britain and Spain.