A public inquiry led by Sir John Saunders concluded that there was a "realistic possibility" that the bomber could have been thwarted if the security services had acted more decisively on intelligence.
Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose Roussos was one of the 22 people killed in the blast, blamed MI5 for a "cataclysmic failure" and said the spy agency was "not fit to keep us safe and therefore not fit for purpose".
In the long-anticipated final report of the inquiry, Saunders said it was "quite impossible" to say definitively whether any different action would have prevented the blast, but that there was a "significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack".
The conclusion triggered a rare public apology from MI5's director general, Ken McCallum, who said it was of "deep regret" that the agency did not obtain sufficient intelligence to stop the "terrible tragedy".
"Gathering covert intelligence is difficult but had we managed to seize the slim chance we 6 had, those impacted might not have experienced such appalling loss and trauma. I am profoundly sorry MI5 did not prevent the attack."
But the apology was rejected by Roussos, whose daughter was the youngest victim of the attack. He said it was "insulting" for MI5 to say there was only a "slim chance" of stopping the attack, adding: "He [McCallum] had loads of chances, transparent chances. I can't accept an apology for losing my daughter."
The 226-page report, which came two-and-a-half years after the inquiry began, found that:
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 03, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 03, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
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