Terror Suspects Missed at London's Heathrow Ahead of Olympics

By Newsroom America Staff at 15 Jul 2012

(Newsroom America) -- Officials blamed inexperienced staff for missing five terror alerts in a single day at London's Heathrow Airport, adding new security fears ahead of the London-hosted Summer Olympics set to open later this month, a report said Sunday.

Senior security officials told The Observer newspaper that new staff hired to handle an influx of passengers flooding into London to watch the Olympics are largely responsible for missing suspects who are on the British government's watch list.

One security official who was not named in the report told the paper he knows of three suspects on the Home Office's watch list that have entered the country on his shift since the beginning of July.

A colleague of that official said five suspects had already entered the country, the paper said.

"It's all new faces" one senior official said, explaining that scores of inexperieced new security personnel have been hired to process the influx of passengers.

"The rest of the staff, I have no idea where they have come from, how long they are here for, what their background is. These are people who have been forced by their own department to come here," the official said.

News of the potential security breach comes days after G4S, the world's largest security firm, announced that it could not provide enough security personnel for the Olympics, which forced the government to call in some 3,500 army troops to assist.

And last month, John Evans, head of MI5 - Britain's intelligence agency - said the Games offered an "attractive target for our enemies, and they will be at the centre of the world's attention."

Other UK officials have expressed concern that Britain could become particularly vulnerable to terrorist threats from elsewhere because the government had diverted most of its security and intelligence assets to the Olympic Games.

"How many other misses have occurred? The missing of counterterrorism 'hits' is a huge thing, but new recruits are not getting enough time to be taught," the senior border official told the paper.

"It is vital these people do not get in without being noted and that the information is passed to the police or security services. Once they're in, you've no idea where they might be going," the official said.

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