On-The-Run Terror Suspect In 'Torture' Claim

The suspect who escaped by dressing in a burka is claiming damages from the Government in a case involving claims of torture.

Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, who vanished from a London mosque on Friday, has launched a human rights legal challenge involving allegations that Britain was complicit in his torture by the authorities in Somalia.

The 27-year-old is the subject of a Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure but managed to escape surveillance by disguising himself as a woman.

It has been claimed that he has been trained and fought for the al Qaeda-linked Somali group al Shabaab.

The manhunt currently includes the Metropolitan Police's counter terrorism command, MI5 and the UK Border Force.

The High Court heard how Mohamed was bringing a claim against the Foreign Office, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Attorney General.

Mohamed and another, referred to as CF, accuse the British authorities of consenting to their arrest by Somaliland authorities in January 2011 and then allowing their detention and torture.

Mohamed launched his damages claim under a cloak of anonymity and was referred to in court papers as "MA" but anonymity was lifted following his disappearance.

The Home Secretary Theresa May has insisted Mohamed, who is the second terror suspect under a terrorism-prevention measure to go missing, does not pose "a direct threat" to the public.

However, it has emerged that Mrs May was mistaken when she claimed in the House of Commons that the police had Mohamed's passport.

In a statement today from the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, the Labour MP Keith Vaz, he discloses that the Home Secretary had written to correct an answer she had given him in which she said: "I do not have his passport but the police do."

Mrs May amended her response writing: "I do not have his passport. Mohamed was not in possession of his British passport when he returned to the UK so there was no passport for the police to seize."

Mr Vaz said: "I am amazed that Home Office officials should have briefed the Home Secretary so poorly on such an important issue. When there are only eight people on Tpims they ought to know every detail about them.

"It is a worry that there may be other factual errors in the way this matter has been handled and I will seek reassurance about this.

It could well be that Mohamed has another passport and her answer has raised questions about his current whereabouts. We will be raising these questions with Charles Farr when he comes before the Committee next Tuesday."

It is thought Mohamed used a sharp instrument to cut off his tag and was last seen at the An-Noor Masjid and Community Centre in west London.

Mohamed and CF were detained in Somaliland on January 14 2011 and held until their removal back to the UK on March 14 that year.

Mohamed alleges the fact the British authorities knew he was about to be arrested in Somaliland was demonstrated by the Home Secretary's decision to apply for a control order against him "as a precaution" prior to his detention.

The first control order against him was sanctioned by High Court judge Mr Justice Silber on January 13 2011.