London attacker’s shady life

Masood known to police

BEFORE he killed at least four people in Britain’s deadliest attack since the 2005 London bombings, Khalid Masood was considered by intelligence officers to be a criminal who posed little serious threat.

A British-born Muslim convert, Masood had shown up on the periphery of previous terrorism investigations that brought him to the attention of Britain’s MI5 spy agency.

But he was not under investigation when he sped across Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, ploughing into pedestrians with a hired car before running into the parliamentary grounds and fatally stabbing an unarmed policeman. He was shot dead by police.

Although some of those he was involved with included people suspected of being keen to travel to join jihadi groups overseas, Masood himself never did so, said a US government source.

“Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack,” London police said in a statement.

“However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH (grievous bodily harm), possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.”

Islamic State claimed responsibility for Masood’s attack, although it was unclear what links – if any – he had with the militant group.

The 52-year-old was born in Kent in the southeast of London and racked up a string of convictions, but none for terrorism-related offences. His occupation was unclear.

“Our working assumption is that he was inspired by international terrorism,” said Britain’s most senior counterterrorism police officer, Mark Rowley, adding: “Islamistrelated terrorism is our assumption.”

Since the attack in London, police have raided a number of addresses across the city, arresting several people on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. — Reuters