Prior to his arrest in January, the 21-year-old had formerly been a serving soldier in the British Army since 2018 and had worked as a computer network engineer with the Royal Corps of Signals.

He was awaiting trial at HMP Wandsworth in London after being accused of leaving fake bombs at a military base.

It is believed he escaped via a prison kitchen by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery van.

Who is Daniel Abed Khalife?

With known links to Kingston in London and the northwest of England, he was based at the Ministry of Defence’s Stafford military base while serving, which is also known as Beacon Barracks.

He was charged with terror offences and charges relating to the Official Secrets Act earlier this year after he was accused of carrying out a bomb hoax at the RAF base.

According to court documents, he allegedly placed “three canisters with wires at RAF Stafford with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property”, contrary to section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

He is also accused of eliciting or trying to elicit information that could be useful for a terrorist on August 2, 2021, and breaching the Official Secrets Act by gathering information that could be useful to an enemy between May 1, 2019 and January 6, 2022.

Khalife had initially been arrested in January 2022 on suspicion of a separate offence but was bailed before being re-arrested following an investigation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command.

During a court hearing earlier this year, a prosecutor told Westminster Magistrates Court that he had disappeared from the barracks after the alleged bomb hoax and there had been “active efforts to look for him”.

He was arrested a few weeks later “in or near his car” and has been remanded into custody ever since.

The former soldier has denied all charges against him and is due to face a six-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court on November 13.

UK airports are doing extra checks as the search for him continues.

There are no signs that police have made a breakthrough – and the Met’s decision to seek the public’s help could suggest that any initial leads had gone cold.

Cdr Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, confirmed all police forces and UK border points have been put on notice.

Police believe Mr Khalife poses a “low risk” to the public but people are being urged not to approach him and to call 999 instead.


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