‘We won’t be divided by London atrocity’

THOUSANDS OF people, from police officers to faith leaders and members of the public, have linked hands on Westminster Bridge in a show of defiance a week after the terror attack in the capital.

The Hands Across Westminster Bridge vigil sought to show that “we will not be divided”, linking “all nations, faiths, orientation and sexes”, organisers said.

It was one of a number of events organised to remember the victims of the attack, including memorials held in Leeds and Sheffield.

Officers who attended the scene of the attack in London were urged to “come to pay their respects, as well as victims, witnesses and anyone else”, according to a statement on the Metropolitan Police Federation website. The bridge, still adorned with floral tributes to the victims, was closed to traffic. Nurses and doctors from St Thomas’ hospital, where many of the injured were treated, joined those on the bridge.

School children aged nine and 10 clasped yellow roses and held signs which read “Islam says no to terror” and “please don’t kill innocent people” as they walked across the river.

Hundreds of members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association were on the bridge, wearing T-shirts with the message “I am a Muslim, ask me anything”. Zafir Malik, an imam from the association, said they were asked by the police to come along to show solidarity, and that they wanted to “show that what happened here last week had nothing to do with the so-called religious aspect that this has been given”. Those gathered on the bridge fell silent at 2.40pm – the time the first call was made to police exactly seven days ago.