MI5 and Special Branch cleared in July 7 report

THE British Security Service and counter terrorist police did not have the resources to identify the ringleader of the July 7 attacks before the atrocities took place, a report has said.

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) cleared MI5 and Special Branch officers of failing to link Mohammed Sidique Khan to the deadly London plot that left 52 people dead.

In a long-awaited but heavily-censored second report, MPs said they “cannot criticise” decisions made by investigators despite the fact Khan crossed their radar several times. They said it was right for officers not to dig further into his background despite watching him meet extremist plotters, because they had no evidence to suggest he posed a threat to national security.

But they branded the fact MI5 could only provide “reasonable” surveillance coverage of about one in 20 terror suspects in 2004 as “astounding” and disclosed 54 “essential” targets were not being watched at all.

Committee chairman Kim Howells said the blame for not stopping the attack could not be laid at the door of MI5, and following people like him could have diverted resources from other key inquiries. He said the agency of 3,500 people would need hundreds of thousands of security and intelligence officers to provide comprehensive intelligence coverage.

There were also, rightly, “legal constraints” on who could be investigated for what reasons, he said.

The 100-page report will leave the Government open to claims of a whitewash by campaigners calling for a full public inquiry. They want an independent investigation into what the Security Service and police did and did not know in the run-up to the London attacks.

Three men were acquitted of helping the four bombers prepare for their attacks on three Tube trains and a bus.