This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/8056534.stm

The article has changed 21 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Report clears MI5 over 7/7 leader MI5 'too stretched' before 7 July
(9 minutes later)
A parliamentary committee has cleared the security service MI5 of failings over the 7/7 London suicide attacks. The security service did not have the manpower to do extra checks on the 7 July ringleader before he carried out the attacks in 2005, a report has said.
The Intelligence and Security Committee report reveals in unprecedented detail what officers knew of the 2005 plot's ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan. The Intelligence and Security Committee said MI5 was stretched almost to breaking point in 2004.
But it stresses that none of the information amounted to evidence that he was a threat to national security. It stressed that while officers knew of Mohammad Sidique Khan's terrorist links, there was no evidence to suggest he was a threat to national security.
The committee said MI5 was stretched almost to breaking point in 2004, and officers had more urgent priorities. Fifty-two people were killed in the suicide bombings in London in 2005.
The committee did accept MI5's assessment that Khan knew other terrorists. The long-awaited report describes in unprecedented detail what officers knew of Khan before the attacks.
But its report suggests that in 2004, a year before the attacks, MI5 was preoccupied as teams traced bomb plotters around the UK. It reveals that a police surveillance team photographed him in 2001 as part of an operation against suspected extremists.
It reveals for the first time that during that year 52 suspects were classed as "essential targets", but MI5 did not have the manpower to watch them. However, he was not identified from the picture - and his significance was only realised after the bombings.
The report suggests that in 2004, a year before the attacks, MI5 was preoccupied as teams traced bomb plotters around the UK.
It has emerged that during that year MI5 did not have the resources to watch 52 suspects who were classed as "essential targets".
In that context, the committee said the security services' decision not to follow Khan after he had initially appeared on their radar was understandable, taking into account operational pressures.In that context, the committee said the security services' decision not to follow Khan after he had initially appeared on their radar was understandable, taking into account operational pressures.
Fifty-two people died and hundreds were injured when Khan and three other suicide bombers attacked the London transport system.