Two convicted rapists are among 15 sex offenders that have gone missing from Greater Manchester.

Attif Hussain, 35, and Mamod Korbani, 32, vanished after they were released on licence.

Sex offenders are legally required to register their name, address and date of birth with the police. Failure to notify, or false notification, is an offence punishable by up to six months' imprisonment.

There are 1,812 registered sex offenders living in the community in Greater Manchester and 700 in local prisons. Of the 15 missing, ten are believed to be abroad.

All but three are wanted for failing to notify police of a change of address as a condition of signing the Sex Offenders Register. Their offences include sexual assault, indecent exposure, possession of indecent images of children, indecent assault and rape.

One was being sent for deportation when he assaulted a security guard and escaped. Another came from Pakistan as a student but after three days in the UK committed a sexual assault on a woman. He was sentenced to two weeks in prison but released after three days then disappeared.

If offenders inform police they are moving abroad they are allowed to go and intelligence is passed to the authorities in the other country. But the 10 who are believed to be outside the country have not informed the authorities they were leaving.

Police do unannounced checks on registered sex offenders to check they are living where they say they are, with whom they have contact, and if they have access to computers.

One of those missing is rapist Attif Hussain, 35. He was sentenced to 12 years for rape and kidnapping in Oldham in 1996.  He was released in 2003 on licence to a hostel. But his licence was revoked after he was convicted of shoplifting and theft.

In 2004 he was released again on licence. His period of licence ended in November 2008. A month later an allegation of serious sexual assault was made against him but police have so far not been able to trace him.

Missing

Also outstanding is Iranian national Mamod Korbani, 32, who is wanted on recall to prison. He was convicted of raping a woman in Oldham in 2005 and sentenced to four years.

He was released on licence December 2008 to a hostel and managed by the probation service. He then left the hostel and registered a new address. But when police checked the address in March 2009 he was not there.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the pair should contact police on 0161 872 5050.

The M.E.N. discovered there were 23 missing sex offenders in December following a Freedom of Information request. GMP have since caught eight of the offenders.

Detective Inspector Debbie Conlon Houldershaw, from GMP's Sex Offender Management Unit, said: "We make every effort to ensure we know where registered sex offenders are and those that go missing are found and dealt with accordingly.

"Some of those who are missing may have left the country, which makes them more difficult to locate.

"We know the impact these offences can have on victims and families. Protecting people is our priority and all serious offenders are rigorously managed and monitored by trained staff.

"The figure of 23 registered sex offenders outstanding in December has been reduced to 15 which shows how determined we are to find those of the Sex Offenders Register who go missing."

Child protection campaigners expressed concern about sex offenders being missing.

Claude Knights, director of Kidscape, a charity that works to protect children from abuse, said: "When sex offenders go AWOL it is a red signal that they are dangerous. You don't go missing unless you want to escape the system.

"The likelihood is they are reoffending. It is very worrying."