Two terror suspects at large in Britain: media report

Two terrorist suspects held in Britain under the country's control orders have escaped and are on the run, according to reports by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Monday.

One man, a Briton, who was accused of intending to fight alongside insurgents in Iraq, climbed out of a window at Middlesex University Hospital's mental health unit in southwest London, where he was being held for mental assessment, reported the BBC.

The man, in his 20s, had been arrested in Pakistan last year, said the BBC.

His family was appealing to him to come out of hiding.

"It is in his best interests to come back," a man identified as his brother told the BBC, saying that being on the run would make things worse for him and the whole family was extremely worried.

The second man was an Iraqi citizen who has reportedly been on the run for months, said the BBC.

The Home Office declined to confirm the news and refused to reveal the identities of the two men.

Tony McNulty, the policing minister, told the BBC that anti-terrorism legislation prevented the media from identifying the two men.

But he said, "The people who needed to know, in both cases, would have known."

The control orders, including house arrest, an obligation to report to a police station every day and a ban on communication with others, were created by the British government after Britain's supreme court ruled in December 2004 that the detention of suspects in prison without trial was unlawful.

The orders are used to restrict activities of terror suspects who are not charged with any offenses but are deemed a risk to national security.

Source: Xinhua