Cleric who inspired Tunisia gunman lives in £1 million West London home

Al-Sibai, 54, reportedly receives £50,000 a year in disability living allowance

A leader of the terrorist group said to be behind the Tunisian beach massacre lives in a £1 million house in west London and receives a generous disability allowance.

Hani al-Sibai, an al Qaeda cleric, known as a 'key influencer' of Tunisian terror group, Ansar al-Sharia, is suspected of having recruited and trained gunman Seifeddine Rezgui who opened fire on tourists in a resort in Tunisia.

Al-Sibai, 54, lives with his wife and children in a £1 million house in London and reportedly receives £50,000 a year in disability living allowance.

Al-Sibai, who hails from Egypt, is also under investigation for benefit fraud. When asked how he could justify taking so much in benefits, he told the Daily Mail, "Ask David Cameron, don't ask me."

Read: Tunisia declares state of emergency after beach attack

Keith Vaz, chairperson of the home affairs select committee, said he would be writing to Home Secretary Theresa May to demand an explanation as to why al-Sibai is still in the country.

"It is extraordinary that successive governments have been trying but failing to remove someone who has these worrying links," he said.

He further added that the way al-Sibai had foiled attempts to remove him were a cause for enormous concern.

Tory MP Peter Bone is also in favour of deporting al-Sibai and has said, "This is the sort of thing that drives my constituents mad. I expect the Home Secretary to deal with this urgently. There is a very strong case for him to be deported. He needs to be dealt with."

Al-Sibai was cited at length in a 2013 report by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague, and was described as one a "key influencer".

Read: Resort shootings: At least 15 Britons among Tunisia terror victims

It is claimed that al-Sibai, a charismatic preacher, had "captivated" a number of young Muslim men who later on went abroad to fight.

In a court case last year, he was accused of having "provided material support to al Qaeda and conspired to commit terrorist acts". However, he denies all such allegations.

Moreover, the Department for Work and Pensions has made it amply clear that "People who commit, plan and support acts of terror will be prosecuted and anyone who has been deported or sent to prison will lose their benefits.'

This article originally appeared on The Telegraph