London’s Metropolitan Police are on the lookout for Daniel Abed Khalife, a British army soldier who was accused of planting fake bombs at a military base and violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act.
In a statement posted online Wednesday, the police service said Khalife, 21, escaped from a prison in southwest London.
He was awaiting trial and escaped from Wandsworth, police said.
No explanation of how he escaped was provided.
Khalife is accused of placing three canisters with wires outside a Ministry of Defence site in January, according to the BBC. He has denied all charges against him.
“We have a team of officers who are making extensive and urgent enquiries in order to locate and detain Khalife as quickly as possible,” Cmdr. Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said in a press release. “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 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.”
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Khalife was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toe cap boots. Police said he is most likely in the London area.
— with files from The Associated Press