PARIS attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud met UK-based fanatics when he visited Britain to get their help with his terror cell plotting.
It is believed Abaaoud, 28, sneaked in on a forged passport before seeking “logistical support” from extremists.
Counter-terrorism sources in three countries have told The Sun they are now convinced he visited the UK undetected, despite being on international terror watch lists.
One source said they were investigating the possibility he arrived in Kent but declined to give further details.
Abaaourd, killed in a police raid days after the Paris atrocity, is thought to have stayed in the UK only a short time.
It is believed he was picked up on arrival in Kent and taken to London, where he may have met other members of his network.
If the intelligence theory that he used a forged passport is correct there will be no record of his arrival and exit.
When asked by The Sun about Abaaoud’s trip to Britain, one senior Paris investigation source replied simply: “It is true. But we don’t yet know why.”
Counter-terror officers across Europe and in America are trying to discover how Abaaoud managed to move around with such ease despite his wanted status.
The Belgian-born fanatic is known to have left his native country for Syria in 2013 to fight alongside other extremists.
He then returned to Belgium to organise a plot to kill police officers. It was smashed in January but he managed to escape.
Abaaoud managed to travel back to Syria despite being the subject of a manhunt over the plot.
There he gave an interview to IS propaganda magazine Dabiq, bragging about giving a Belgian border official the slip after the man failed to recognise him from a police-issue mugshot.
Abaaoud said: “He did not see the resemblance. This was nothing but a gift from Allah.”
Abaaoud was later sentenced to 20 years in his absence by a Belgian court.
Investigators believe he then left Syria for a second time, posing as a refugee to cross into Turkey and then to the Greek island of Leros.
It is unclear how he then got back to France, or whether he went via Britain.
Before last month’s Paris attacks, in which 130 people died and hundreds more were injured, he had already been linked with four separate failed terror plots in France.
Sources say mainland Europe’s notoriously lax borders are almost certainly a factor in Abaaoud’s ability to move around at will. Fellow plotter Salah Abdeslam also clocked up thousands of miles travelling around Europe. Investigators believe Abaaoud and his cell had access to expertly-forged passports and ID papers.
Despite this, they say Abaaoud should have found it much tougher to get into Britain because of stricter immigration controls.
Earlier this month it was revealed Abaaoud had photos of Birmingham landmarks on his smartphone. They are thought to have been sent to him by someone linked to the terror plot.
It has also emerged phone calls were made by Abaaoud and Paris suicide bomber Brahim Abdeslam, brother of Salah, to numbers belonging to Moroccan nationals living in Birmingham.
A source in the Europe-wide terrorism investigation said those calls were a key line of inquiry.
The source said: “Abaaoud and Brahim made calls to at least two mobile phones that were located in Birmingham in the days and weeks leading to the Paris attacks.
“We believe those calls were made to discuss some aspect of logistics and finances with regards to the Paris attacks. We also think money and false or doctored documents swapped hands between Abaaoud and Brahim and their associates in Birmingham.
“Forensic evidence suggests some of the forged documents found on Paris attackers were personally handed over to Brahim and Abaaoud during visits to the UK.”
The Sun understands those contacts may have been with either Moroccans or Algerians living in the East and West Midlands.
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