A BRITISH computer expert working at Imperial College, London, has been accused of having detailed plans at home for attacking a US warship.

Counter-terror agents are investigating claims that he is related to a man alleged to be an al-Qaeda communications chief who was arrested in Pakistan after he was found with plans for an attack on Heathrow. Two men linked to the alleged Heathrow plot are now feared to have fled Britain.

Lawyers trying to extradite the British suspect, Babar Ahmad, 30, to America on terror charges said last night that he faces life imprisonment for using computer websites to incite attacks in Chechnya and Afghanistan.

Mr Ahmad, who appeared at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court yesterday, is also said to have arranged for money to be funnelled to the Taleban and other militant groups linked to Osama bin Laden.

Last night his family dismissed claims that Mr Ahmad, a married man from Tooting, southwest London, had anything to do with Islamic extremists.

The capture of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan in Pakistan triggered the recent spate of arrests here and in Pakistan. Anti-Terrorist Branch detectives hunting five Islamic militants who evaded capture during raids in Britain this week believe that at least two managed to slip through a British port to the Continent.

The men are believed to have gone on the run after American and Pakistani officials leaked details of Mr Khan’s arrest as well as giving details of plans to bomb US financial targets.

British security agencies say they were not warned about the revelations. Police and MI5 are furious that leaks from Washington and Islamabad appear to have allowed some suspects to flee.

The British cell is said to have been under the command of al-Qaeda’s UK operations chief — known by the codename Bilal — who is believed to be among the 12 men still being questioned after this week’s raids.

Bilal — who uses a number of aliases including Abu Musa al-Hindi and Issa al-Britan — has been on America’s most wanted list since he was sent to the US before the September 11 attacks reportedly to identify other targets.

US officials claim that Bilal is an Indian-born Hindu who converted to Islam at the age of 20 and fought in Kashmir before becoming an instructor at training camps for young Muslims. He has been named in the US as the author of a terror manual describing how to kill enemy soldiers.

David Blunkett said yesterday that the country was “maintaining a state of heightened readiness”, but made no comment on the possible escape of some members of a terror cell.

A 25-year-old man arrested in Lancashire during the raids this week was released without charge last night.

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