Al Qaeda 'sergeant' becomes seventh terror suspect on the loose after snubbing control order

A suspected Al Qaeda recruiting sergeant is on the loose in Britain after becoming the seventh control order suspect to abscond.

The Iraqi asylum seeker, a follower of dead Al Qaeda warlord Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, vanished from his home on Monday.

His disappearance leaves the policy of using control orders to monitor terror suspects in tatters. A minister admitted that the orders cannot prevent "determined" suspects escaping.

The missing man is alleged to have been part of a six-man recruitment team sent to Britain by Al Qaeda in Iraq to enlist volunteers to join attacks on British and U.S. troops serving there.

He managed to gain a foothold here by claiming to be fleeing persecution in Iraq.

His admission to Britain is likely to reignite debate about the way the asylum system is abused by terror suspects. Around a quarter of those arrested under anti-terror laws are would-be refugees.

The fanatic, who was wearing an electronic tag and under a 14-hour curfew when he fled, has not been traced despite a huge manhunt.

Although other control order suspects have been named and pictured, his identity is being kept secret on police advice.

"This is yet another example of how control orders, while doing much to undermine our rights and freedoms, are astonishingly ineffective at protecting our safety," said Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.

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Liberal Democrat spokesman Nick Clegg added: "This is yet another serious blow for the increasingly discredited system of control orders. The Government must hold a wholesale review."

The escaped suspect was one of six Iraqi asylum seekers arrested in August 2005 on suspicion of recruiting or financing other extremists. The six were closely linked to al-Zarqawi, who murdered British hostage Ken Bigley in Iraq.

In November that year, the six were placed under the strictest control orders possible - forcing them to observe an 18-hour curfew.

Last August, the orders were quashed by the courts under human rights law for being too strict and ministers had to reduce the curfew to 14 hours.

Within hours of the ruling, a member of the group, later named as Bestun Salim, went missing. The Iraqi Kurd, the first control order suspect to abscond, is since thought to have returned home.

Security Minister Tony McNulty appeared to blame the courts for the latest fiasco and once again indicated the Government may set aside human rights law so it can impose tougher control orders.

"Control orders are not even our second - or third - best option for dealing with suspected terrorists," he said. "But under existing laws they are as far as we can go."

He said the restrictions placed on the latest man to abscond were "the most stringent obligations we could impose in this individual's case".

But he added: "Within these limits, it is very difficult to prevent determined individuals from absconding.

"We will consider other options - including derogation - if we have exhausted ways of overturning previous judgments."

Derogation - or opting out - of the convention would allow the Home Office to bring in a tougher form of control order.

Five of the seven missing control order suspects have been named.

Along with Bestun Salim, they are Lamine Adam, 26, his brother Ibrahim, 20, and Cerie Bullivant, 24.

Zeeshan Siddiqui, 26, a former London Underground worker who trained with a London suicide bomber in Pakistan, is also missing.