Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Parliament attack: British-born suspect "investigated over extremism concerns"

THE attacker who killed three people near the parliament before being shot dead was British-born and was once investigated by MI5 intelligence agents over concerns about violent extremism, Prime Minister Theresa May said today (March 23).

Daesh (the Islamic State group) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency. But it gave no name or other details and it was not clear whether the attacker was directly connected to the group.


Police arrested eight people at six locations in London and Birmingham in the investigation into Wednesday's (March 22) lone-wolf attack that May said was inspired by a warped Islamist ideology.

About 40 people were injured and 29 remain in hospital, seven in critical condition, after the incident, which resembled Daesh-inspired attacks in France and Germany where vehicles were driven into crowds.

In Belgium today, security forces found a rifle as well as bladed weapons in a car driven by a Frenchman who tried to ram a crowd in the port city of Antwerp, prosecutors said.

Bomb disposal units were on the scene to examine the vehicle and "different arms were found in the boot - bladed weapons, a riot gun (rifle) and a container of liquid that is still unidentified," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.

"The suspect is Mohamed R., born on May 8, 1977, of French nationality and a resident of France," the statement said.

The mayhem in London took came on the first anniversary of attacks that killed 32 people in Brussels. Twelve people were killed in Berlin in December when a truck plowed into a Christmas market and 84 died in July in a similar attack on Nice waterfront for which Islamic State claimed responsibility.

This morning, in London, British MPs reacted with defiance, shock and emotional tribute as they came to terms with yesterday's attack which left a police officer dead on the cobbles inside the gates of the world's oldest parliament.

MPs and peers, aides, staff and journalists returned to work this morning and the House of Commons chamber was packed for the minute's silence in tribute to the victims, before MPs held a planned session on international trade, insisting it was "business as usual".

Outside, forensic officers worked in a blue tent at the scene of the attack, before later combing the ground in a fingertip search for evidence of yesterday's attack.

The assailant sped across Westminster Bridge in a car, plowing into pedestrians along the way, then ran through the gates of the nearby parliament building and fatally stabbed an unarmed policeman before being shot dead.

"What I can confirm is that the man was British-born and that some years ago he was once investigated by MI5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism," May said in a statement to parliament.

"He was a peripheral figure...He was not part of the current intelligence picture. There was no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot," she said, adding that his identity would be revealed when the investigation allowed.

Among the casualties were 12 Britons, three French children, two Romanians, four South Koreans, one German, one Pole, one Chinese, one American and two Greeks, May said.

"We meet here, in the oldest of all parliaments, because we know that democracy and the values it entails will always prevail," she said.

"A terrorist came to the place where people of all nationalities and cultures gather what it means to be free and he took out his rage indiscriminately against innocent men, women and children," said May.

Britain's plan to trigger the formal process of exiting the EU on March 29 will not be delayed due to the attack, May's spokesman said.

In a message, the Queen said: "My thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy are with all those who have been affected by yesterday's awful violence."

Defence secretary Michael Fallon said the police and agencies “that we rely on for our security have forestalled a large number of these attacks in recent years, over a dozen last year”.

"This kind of attack, this lone-wolf attack, using things from daily life, a vehicle, a knife, are much more difficult to forestall," he told the BBC.

A vigil was planned in London's Trafalgar Square at 6 pm.

(AFP, Reuters)

More For You

Early risers in the UK witness stunning Blood Moon eclipse

The lunar eclipse of Friday may not have been as dramatic as the total eclipses seen in other parts of the world

iStock

Early risers in the UK witness stunning Blood Moon eclipse

In the early hours of Friday morning, stargazers across the UK were treated to a partial lunar eclipse, with many enthusiasts rising before dawn to catch a glimpse. The celestial event, which saw the Earth's shadow partially covering the Moon, began at 05:09 GMT. Although only partial for most UK observers, it still presented a spectacular sight, with western parts of the country and regions further afield, such as the Americas and some Pacific islands, witnessing the eclipse.

For some, like Kathleen Maitland, the experience was magical. Stargazing from Pagham Harbour in West Sussex, she described the beauty of watching the Moon gradually darken and transform into a reddish hue, with the sunrise unfolding behind her. The eclipse gave rise to the so-called "blood Moon," a phenomenon that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow, turning a dusky red as sunlight is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sangam Foundation celebrates Women's Day

From L - Reetu Kabra, Sudha Sanghani, Parul Gajjar,Maya Sondhi,Shobu Kapoor, Meera Syal,Piyusha Virani, Sadhana Karia and Shobhna Shah during Sangam Foundation's Women's Day celebrations.

Sangam Foundation celebrates Women's Day

HUNDREDS of women gathered for the International Women's Day celebrations of Sangam Foundation last week. Prominent actresses Meera Syal, Shobhu Kapoor and Maya Sondhi have attended the event, a statement said.

The British Asian celebrities shared their experiences of breaking into an industry rife with misogyny and prejudice. The industry veterans also talked about challenges they faced in a male-dominated field.

Keep ReadingShow less
Asian tycoon Sudhir Choudhrie  backs Liberal
Democrats with £23,000

Sudhir Choudhrie

Asian tycoon Sudhir Choudhrie  backs Liberal Democrats with £23,000

BUSINESSMAN Sudhir Choudhrie has emerged as one of the biggest British Asian donors to the Liberal Democrats in the last quarter of 2024, according to the latest data from the Electoral Commission.

Choudhrie, currently an advisor on India to the leader of the Liberal Democrats, contributed on six different occasions to the party between October and December 2024, totalling more than £23,000. He contributed in a similar fashion in the previous quarter as well.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sunak is ‘content in his MP role
and has no desire to move to US’

(From left) Rishi Sunak with wife Akshata Murty, and parents Usha and Yashvir Sunak

Sunak is ‘content in his MP role and has no desire to move to US’

RISHI SUNAK “loves being an MP” and has no intention of flying to California to begin a new life in America, as his enemies alleged during the general election campaign last year.

And, unlike Boris Johnson, he is not striving to be prime minister again, even though he is still only 44.

Keep ReadingShow less
LEAD Amit 1 INSET Rishi Sunak GettyImages 1258681655
Rishi Sunak
Getty Images

'I am English': Sunak asserts as ethnic minorities debate identity politics in Britain

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has made cultural and sociological history by becoming the first prominent personality to say a brown person can be not only British, but also English.

He dismissed as “ridiculous” the suggestion from his former home secretary, Suella Braverman, that Englishness “must be rooted in ancestry, heritage, and, yes, ethnicity” – in other words, the person has to be white.

Keep ReadingShow less