THE fugitive “white widow” of a 7/7 London bomber, who attempted to steal the identity of a Thorpe Bay woman, has been linked to a terrorist organisation.

Muslim convert Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to Kings Cross bomber Germaine Lindsay, is now thought to be a key link between Al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan and their fighters in East Africa.

In March last year the Echo reported Lewthwaite, 29, was believed to have stolen the identity of Natalie Faye Webb. Her father John, of Maplin Way North, told how officers issued an arrest warrant in the name of his daughter before the ID theft was discovered.

Ms Lewthwaite, originally from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, is said to have evaded capture when Kenyan authorities carried out a raid in Mombasa over Christmas last year.

Kenyan police said the woman they were hunting fled before they could raid a house, where more than 60 rounds of AK47 ammunition and weapons were found.

They also found a passport with a photo bearing a striking resemblance to Ms Lewthwaite, but with the name of South African-born Miss Webb, 26. Police later discovered she had used several false identities.

Now it has emerged Ms Lewthwaite spent two years working for the deadly extremist organisation in South Africa using a false name.

Investigators in Britain and Kenya have now established that the mother-of-four has been working with a key British-born bomb maker who had trained with Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

Ms Lewthwaite is still on the run while working to help finance militant group, Al Shabaab Security sources, who say her role was to channel money raised in the UK and elsewhere to terror cells in Somalia, believe they are now “clearer about the role Lewthwaite has been playing for Al Qaeda”.