Police get more time to question man arrested over Westminster attack

BRITISH police on Wednesday (15) obtained more time to question a man arrested outside the Houses of Parliament for attempted murder and suspected terrorism after a car ploughed into cyclists before crashing into protective barriers.

Three people were injured when the 29-year-old, named by media as Salih Khater, careered over a pavement and into the group of cyclists during Tuesday's morning rush-hour in Westminster.

Police said the man, a British national originally from Sudan, was initially arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences but had now been "further arrested for attempted murder".

Westminster Magistrates' Court approved a warrant Wednesday to continue holding the suspect until Monday, authorities added.

Reports state he came to Britain as a refugee and had been granted asylum. He remains in custody at a south London police station.

Two of the injured victims - a man and a woman - were taken to hospital but have now been discharged. The third was treated at the scene.

The incident had disturbing parallels with an attack last year, when a man drove his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing outside parliament and running inside.

Khalid Masood fatally stabbed a police officer guarding parliament - one of five people killed that day - before being shot dead.

The man involved in Tuesday's (14) incident was believed to be from Birmingham, according to his local MP - the same English city where Masood also lived.

Police searched two addresses in Birmingham on Tuesday and were at a third address on Wednesday. Another location in nearby Nottingham was also searched.

Top police counter-terrorism officer Neil Basu said on Tuesday that the suspect was not believed to be known to intelligence agencies, but British media reported he was known to local police.

Reports said that Khater is a shop manager in Birmingham and had studied at Sudan University of Science and Technology, citing his Facebook page.

His brother described him as a "normal person" with no fanatical ideas, and no links to any religious group, according to the BBC.

Abdullah Khater told the broadcaster his family - who are originally from Darfur in Sudan - was in "a state of shock" over the incident.

Meanwhile Abubakr Ibrahim, a childhood friend, told The Times: "He is not a terrorist. I have known him since childhood. He is a good man."

He told the newspaper Khater was the son of sorghum farmers, and had moved to Britain about five years ago in order to earn money to help his family.

Police believe the car involved in the attack, a silver Ford Fiesta, travelled from Birmingham to London on Monday night, arriving just after midnight.

It drove around the Tottenham Court Road area - near Oxford Street - from around 1:25am (0025 GMT) before heading to the area around parliament around 6:00am (0500 GMT).

The alleged attack took place around 7:30am.

The car crashed into a security barrier, one of many erected on key British sites in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001, and reinforced in recent years.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he backed the idea of banning vehicles from some areas around parliament.

"I've been an advocate for a while now of part-pedestrianizing Parliament Square," he told BBC radio.

But he warned any changes must not lose "the wonderful thing about our democracy which is people having access to parliamentarians, people being able to lobby Parliament, visitors being able to come and visit".

AFP