The terror suspect apprehended with knives near Downing Street Thursday was a British national “born abroad” and has been named as Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, the BBC has learnt.
And the women shot by police in an unconnected counter-terror operation in North London Thursday night wore a full-face Islamic veil, a neighbour and witness told The Telegraph.
She shouted, “don’t touch my body” as paramedics tried to tend to her wounds, claimed Ruth Haile, 40, who has lived in the area for nine years.
“I heard a shot and I looked out my window and there were dozens of police,” Ms. Haile said.
“The woman was being arrested, she was on the floor wearing a long dress and covered in a head scarf. She was shouting, ‘Do not touch me, do not touch my body.’
“She was injured, she had a wound on her right side and doctors were trying to help her. There was a bandage on the wound. She was lying in the street and there were about five or six police around her, some of them were carrying guns.”
Four other people were arrested in or near the property in Willesden and at a house in Kent in connection with the “intelligence led” operation against an “active plot”.
It has also emerged that Mr. Ali, 27, was under surveillance for some time before his arrest, with police tracking him on the tube to St. James’s Park stations and as he walked towards Parliament.
He may have been “allowed to run” by the officers so they could gather more evidence on him The Times reports.
Police are searching addresses linked to Mr. Ali, and he is being held in custody in a South London police station.
The Metropolitan Police said on Thursday he had been arrested in Parliament Street, at the junction with Parliament Square, “following a stop and search as part of an ongoing operation”.
A statement added: “The man was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. Knives have been recovered from him.
“Detectives from the counter-terrorism command are continuing their investigation, and as a result of this arrest there is no immediate known threat.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.