Revealing 7/7 attacks details will give future al-Qaeda plotters invaluable weapon: MI5

London, May 1 (ANI): British intelligence agency MI5 bosses have warned that future al-Qaeda plotters will get an "invaluable weapon" if they disclosed why they failed to investigate the ringleader of the 7/7 attacks.

Bereaved families want to use forthcoming inquests into the deaths of those killed in the London bombings to ask security service officials why they did not follow up Mohammad Sidique Khan after he was spotted with known terrorist suspects.

The Royal Courts of Justice was informed by MI5 about the dangers before it decided the scope of the inquests, that allowing this would aid those planning the next atrocity, The Scotsman reports.

"The appalling truth is, however, that there are people out there who applauded and celebrated this appalling act," said Neil Garnham, QC, for the Home Secretary and MI5.

"And there are others who would like to repeat it, to emulate the action of these murderers and see to it that there are other innocent people bereaved like the families here. Not all such people are stupid. Some of them are both evil and intelligent."

Garnham said allowing the bereaved families' lawyers to question why Khan was not fully investigated might give plotters an "invaluable weapon".

In early 2004, Khan was tracked and photographed by counter-terrorism officers investigating extremists planning a fertiliser bomb attack. But MI5 ruled out further surveillance.

Khan and three other suicide bombers killed 52 people when they detonated explosives on three Tube trains and a bus in central London on July 7, 2005. (ANI)