UK police searching London park for escaped terrorism suspect

Daniel Abed Khalife believed to have escaped from London's HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning

LONDON:

Britain's Metropolitan Police said on Friday searches taking place in London's Richmond Park were linked to the hunt for a former army soldier suspected of terrorism offences. 

Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, is believed to have escaped from London's HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning by slipping out of the prison kitchen where he was working and strapping himself to the bottom of the van. 

A major manhunt is underway to track him down, with enhanced security checks at ports and airports which have led to delays for passengers. 

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London's LBC radio said police helicopters had been seen circling the park in west London early on Friday. 

Khalife, who was discharged from the army in May, is accused of eliciting or trying to elicit information likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism while he was based at barracks in central England in 2021 and also making a bomb hoax by placing three canisters with wires on a desk. 

He is also charged with obtaining information that might be "directly or indirectly useful to an enemy".