Man behind UK attack faces murder attempted charge

A British man accused of a terror attack after driving into a barrier protecting the Houses of Parliament faces investigation for attempted murder, police said Wednesday.

Three people were injured when the 29-year-old, named by media as Salih Khater, drove over a pavement and into cyclists before crashing into the barrier on Tuesday morning.

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

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 himself shot dead.

The man involved in Tuesday’s 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.