Man arrested over former UK soldier's alleged escape from London prison

LONDON: British police have arrested a man in connection with the alleged escape of a terrorism suspect from a London prison last year in a high-profile case that led to a nationwide manhunt, authorities said on Thursday.

Daniel Khalife, 21, a former British soldier accused of offences relating to terrorism and the Official Secrets Act, escaped last September from London's Wandsworth prison by attaching himself to the underside of a food delivery truck, prosecutors say.

Authorities had said he was recaptured after a four-day nationwide manhunt while cycling alongside a canal in west London.

A 24-year-old man was arrested from east London on suspicion of assisting an offender, London police said. The man was not part of Wandsworth prison staff, the statement added.

"This arrest follows months of careful investigation into the alleged escape and enquiries remain ongoing into this," Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Rees of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command said.