Part time taxi driver is al Qaeda UK leader

Guardian:

A man who was accused of being one of al-Qaida's leaders in Britain and who is alleged to have sent one of the July 7 suicide bombers to a terrorism training camp in Pakistan is living freely in the home counties and is not facing any charges.

According to evidence brought before the Old Bailey jury in the fertiliser bomb plot trial, Mohammed Quayyum Khan, a part-time taxi driver from Luton, is in direct contact with one of Osama bin Laden's most senior lieutenants.

Quayyum, known as "Q" to his alleged al-Qaida associates, is also accused of being the leader of a group of would-be terrorists whose plot to bomb London was foiled 18 months before the 7/7 attacks.

Among the allegations against Q during the year-long trial were that he was:

· the emir, or leader, of a group planning to use a massive fertiliser bomb to attack the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London, or high-pressure gas pipelines around the south-east

· instrumental in arranging for Mohammad Sidique Khan to travel to Pakistan, where he attended a terrorism training camp, in 2003

· a provider of funds and equipment for jihadi militants fighting American forces in Afghanistan

The counter-terrorism operation that culminated in yesterday's court case is understood to have begun with an MI5 investigation into Q in 2003. Despite the number of serious allegations levelled against him at the Old Bailey , police and MI5 say they have never found sufficient evidence to arrest or charge him.

His home has been searched at least once; neighbours have said police tore up floorboards and dug up his garden. However, there appears to be no plan to question him about his alleged link with the men who killed 52 people and injured more than 700 in the London bombings.

Q is in his 40s and married with several children. In recent years he has also used at least three other names similar to Quayyum. He is said to be a former associate of the fundamentalist clerics Omar Bakri Mohammed and Abu Hamza , and is said to have arranged for Bakri to speak in Luton before the preacher was banned from re-entering the UK in after the 7/7 attacks.

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There is much more about the mysterious Q who is clearly no relation to the character by that name in the James Bond novels. It does appear that the Brits are letting some get away by approaching the problem using the lawfare method. It is unlikely that Q will show up in Gitmo for questioning. The Brits will have to wait for the next overt act and hope they are lucky enough to catch him.