TWO terror suspects are on the run in Britain after breaking control orders, Home Office officials admitted last night.

One of the suspects has been a fugitive since August. He is one of six Iraqis who won a case weeks earlier claiming that their restrictions were too severe. He was regarded as being a serious risk and was on high restrictions, which are likely to have included a curfew, tagging and surveillance.

The second man vanished a fortnight ago after climbing out of a window in a mental health unit in West London.

Neither man can be named for legal reasons. The Iraqi who has disappeared was suspected with others from Iraq of links to al-Qaeda in Iraq. The threat was thought to be in Iraq rather than Britain, Whitehall sources claimed last night.

Last night John Reid, the Home Secretary, faced a storm over an “extraordinary” security failure and questions on why the breaches were kept secret.

Fifteen men are subject to the orders, which have been at the centre of controversy and legal challenge.

The two breaches came to light only yesterday as the family of the second man, who also cannot be named, expressed fears for his safety.

Police and the Home Office have kept silent while undertaking a discreet manhunt for the second suspect, who is British but of Pakistani origin.

Special Branch and MI5 officers have no idea where to find the 25-year-old man. One fear is that he may have managed to get out of Britain.

The suspect, who may have links to al-Qaeda, was due to appear at the Old Bailey next week to face the first prosecution of a terror suspect for breaching the conditions of a control order.

He was placed under an order in April after being accused by MI5 of wanting to go to Iraq to fight the British Army. He spent seven months in custody in Pakistan, where he has claimed that he was tortured.

After the order was served, his passport was surrendered and he was ordered to report to a police station daily, but he was not fitted with a tag. Four weeks ago he was committed to a mental health unit on the site of West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, West London. He escaped by climbing through a window.

Whitehall sources tried to play down the significance of the second escape, claiming that the man was not regarded as a high risk within Britain and was not involved in plotting any domestic attack.

His family said they were concerned for his safety. They appealed for him to return to fight the allegations against him. His brother said: “We don’t know what mind he may be in. We are trying everything to find him.”

The Home Office minister Tony McNulty declined last night to explain how the pair escaped or why the public were not told earlier, citing security reasons. He added: “I can say clearly that the people who needed to know in both cases, do know in the context of public safety.”

But David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “This is extraordinary. The Government justified control orders on the basis of protecting the public from potentially dangerous terrorists.”

Commenting on the first breach, Mr Davis said: “If this happened months ago, why was the public not informed? This suspect was placed under a control order on the basis he was a potential danger to the public. The public should have been notified.”

He said it was hard to understand how the second suspect could have been allowed to escape, especially while undergoing psychiatric assessment.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “Since control orders were the Government’s flagship anti-terrorism measure, this is a huge embarrassment for them. The danger of control orders is that they short-circuit due process and keep suspects in a state of limbo. This should act as a spur for the Government to develop more robust ways to get suspects into court in the first place, such as using intercept evidence.”

The orders were introduced last year under the Terrorism Act 2005. They have been used where there is insufficient evi- dence for a criminal prosecution. Restrictions include virtual house arrest and surveillance of phones and computers.

CONTROL ORDERS

September 2001 Home Sceretary given powers to hold foreign terror suspects indefinitely

December 2004 Lords quash powers

January 2005 New control order regime announced for both domestic and foreign suspects

February 2005 Ten suspects held under orders

April 2006 High Court rules orders are affront to justice under European Convention on Human Rights June Judge rules in second case that 18-hour curfews on six Iraqis are illegal August Appeal court backs the decision and curfews reduced to 14 hours

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