Paris attacker visited London, Birmingham

London: One of the Islamic State terrorists behind the deadly Paris attacks had visited London and Birmingham earlier this year, counter-terrorism officials have found.

He managed to enter the UK before slipping away again to continental Europe despite Britain's heightened terrorism alert, 'The Guardian' newspaper reported.

In both cities he met people suspected of having the intention and capability of plotting or assisting terrorist activity against the UK.
Months later he was part of the series of attacks in Paris on November 13 that killed 130 people and plunged France into its biggest national security crisis since World War II.

It is unclear how he got into the UK but the British-based suspects he visited are under investigation by MI5 and police counter-terrorism units, the newspaper reports.

The UK Home Office, the government department responsible for border security, declined to comment so far.