Ireland

Rachid Redouane 'not involved in terror cell' during time in Republic of Ireland

  (From left to right) Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba who have been named as the London Bridge terrorists. Photo credited to Metropolitan Police.
  (From left to right) Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba who have been named as the London Bridge terrorists. Photo credited to Metropolitan Police.   (From left to right) Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba who have been named as the London Bridge terrorists. Photo credited to Metropolitan Police.

London Bridge killer Rachid Redouane was not involved in any terror cell in the Republic of Ireland during his time there, the country's police chief has said.

But Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan accepted he went through a "normal process of immigration" in Dublin.

Redouane, who claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan, had previously been refused asylum in the UK in 2009.

His marriage to a UK citizen in Dublin in 2012, giving him an EU travel permit, has prompted claims the Republic is being used by jihadis as a back door into Britain.

"The indications at this time are that this individual lived in this country for a short period of time, going through a normal process of immigration," Ms O'Sullivan said during an international policing conference in Dublin.

"Thereafter, he left and went with his wife, who is a UK citizen, to the UK and we are satisfied with the inquiries we have made at this time, that there is no link to terrorism in this country.

The death toll has risen to eight

"We are also satisfied from the indications from our partners (in the UK) that that is also the case."

Garda inquiries into Redouane's time in Ireland currently centre around suspected immigration offences.

Two people believed to have documents linked to the killer have been arrested.

One Garda source said there is no knowledge of Redouane being involved with other international terror suspects who have been under surveillance in Ireland, and that he lived an apparently normal life during his time in Dublin.

But the source added that investigators were "still shaking the tree".

Ms O'Sullivan defended the Republic's security response to the international terror threat, saying there had been a number of arrests and deportations in recent times.

A number of individuals are also being "monitored very, very closely" and some of them are before the courts.

The image has been widely shared on social media after the London Bridge attacks.
The image has been widely shared on social media after the London Bridge attacks. The image has been widely shared on social media after the London Bridge attacks.

The Garda chief said her force was working with UK counterparts within an hour of the London Bridge attacks at the weekend.

She also pointed to a beefing-up of armed police in the Republic, with numbers in the armed support unit to increase by a third by the end of this month.

"There will be more visible, overt armed patrols," she said.

"People shouldn't be afraid of that. That is actually to make sure the public are safe."

Ms O'Sullivan said counter-terrorism investigations around the country "make sure we know exactly what is happening in communities".

Gardaí are attempting to trace whether another of the London Bridge attackers, Khuram Shazad Butt, had spent any time in Dublin.

It is understood some members of the Muslim community in Dublin have been contacted.

Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, imam of the Islamic Centre of Ireland, said he thought he recognised the killer's face after seeing police pictures but later said he had no idea why he thinks the face is familiar.