THE Home Office was asked yesterday to explain why a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist was able to sit in the public gallery of the House of Commons this week.

Mahmoud Abu Rideh, an alleged fundraiser for Osama bin Laden, revealed his trip to Parliament as he disclosed the secrets of living under a strict Home Office control order.

He has to make a daily 3am telephone call to Whitehall monitors to prove that he is at home, but somehow he was able to pass through security at Westminster.

He was invited to the House of Lords by the Labour peer Lord Ahmed to discuss the “intolerable strain” of his daily regime. Lord Ahmed said that he did not take his eyes off his visitor during his visit. He also says that he did not take him to any public gallery and escorted him from the building after their meeting.

Somehow Mr Abu Rideh then showed up in the Commons and was given a security pass to listen to a debate.

It is understood that security staff did not realise that he was one of the first batch of terrorism suspects to be arrested under emergency internment laws in 2001, introduced after the September 11 attacks in America.

His excursion to the Commons has reopened the debate of how the Government is operating its controversial control orders. MPs were last night asking how a man they accuse of being a major fundraiser for Osama bin Laden is supposedly kept under close surveillance and yet manages to enter Parliament. David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, expressed surprise that Mr Abu Rideh was able to “walk around one of the UK’s biggest terror targets”. He added: “If we have to have control orders, the Government should ensure that they operate in a sensible and appropriate way.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Rideh did enter Parliament after undergoing the normal security checks but this was not a breach of his control order. At no time was he in a position where he could pose a threat to the public or to Members of Parliament.”

Mr Abu Rideh said last night he enjoyed his excursion, describing Parliament as a “very beautiful building”. He complains that the strain of rising well before dawn is seriously damaging his health. The father of five knows from bitter experience that if he fails to make his 3am call a team of police officers will be at his front door within minutes .

The Home Office would not explain the reasons for this, but said that if he fails to ring in on time it is a criminal offence and he risks a five-year prison sentence.

“My kids are constantly scared I will forget to ring, and the police will come round,” Mr Abu Rideh said. If any of his children’s friends want to come and play with them, they have to provide a passport and their photograph.

Until now the terms of his daily regime have remained a secret. The High Court is due to hear a challenge to the control orders in May.

Mr Abu Rideh denies having any role in terrorism.

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