Downing Street attack foiled
BRITAIN: A suspected jihadist carrying a rucksack packed with knives was heading towards Downing Street in London when he was dramatically arrested by armed police yesterday.
The ‘‘lone wolf’’ suspect had been under close surveillance when counter-terrorism officers ordered his immediate detention as he came within 300 metres of the gates of the prime minister’s residence.
It is understood that the suspect’s family had become concerned about his behaviour and reported him to authorities several weeks ago. Investigators believe he was about to launch an attack.
The 27-year-old man, dressed in black, was wrestled to the ground by officers as he walked among a crowd of tourists and workers in Parliament Street.
His arrest came just five weeks after Khalid Masood was shot and killed just 100 metres away - within the grounds of the Palace of Westminster - having mown down bystanders in a hired car driven over Westminster Bridge.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who was visiting a factory in Chesterfield at the time of the arrest, praised security services for preventing another terrorist strike at the heart of British power.
A senior police source said: ‘‘This is someone who was known and under surveillance. He was being watched very closely.’’
The source said the man had been ‘‘walking in the direction of Whitehall and No 10’’ and that ‘‘at some stage an alert went out to all the teams in the area and the order was made to pick him up’’.
Police said that as a result of the arrest there was ‘‘no immediate known threat’’, suggesting there was no evidence the man was a member of a terror network but was likely acting as a ‘‘lone wolf’’.
It is not clear if police knew the man was carrying weapons when the decision was made to stop him.
Ian Grant, 56, from Poplar, East London, said he had just emerged from the Westminster Tube station when he saw ‘‘a police car go flying by’’ and ’’all of a sudden two cops got out. Then an armed cop with a rifle came past me’’.
‘‘I thought it was just a drill at first. Then he shouted, ‘Armed police, stop’, and they got this guy down on the ground. When they shouted at him, he didn’t resist or say a word, he just put his hands up and stopped.’’
Scotland Yard said: ‘‘Knives have been recovered from [the man]. He is being detained under the Terrorism Act.’’
The investigation into the suspect will now look at how he may have been radicalised and the motives for the attack. Sources said he had not been in Syria.
Meanwhile, a woman in her 20s is in hospital after being shot by British police, while four people were arrested during terror raids in London and Kent yesterday. The raids were not connected to the Downing Street arrest, Scotland Yard said.
- Telegraph Group, PA