‘Dead behind the eyes’

Somali man with links to al-Qa’ida behind terror attack on British MP

LONDON: The man alleged to have killed British MP Sir David Amess is the son of a Somali civil servant and had been referred to a government antiterror scheme.

Police discovered Islamist material on his phone after the stabbing in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, with a witnesses claiming he appeared “dead behind the eyes”.

The man being held by police has been named as Ali Harbi Ali, 25.

His father is believed to be a senior civil servant in the Somali government.

He is thought to have been born in the UK after his family fled the war-torn East African nation in the 1990s.

Detectives are said to be trying to establish a motive so they can charge him under the Terrorism Act – rather than murder – leading to the prospect of a whole life sentence if convicted.

An emergency worker called to Friday’s murder scene told how the killer was “dead behind the eyes”.

“What I saw was horrific. We knew immediately that David (Amess, pictured) was dead. There was no way anyone was surviving that,” she said.

“It was such a savage attack. “The attacker was already in handcuffs and was sitting on the floor.

“He was completely dead behind the eyes, staring blankly. And he didn’t say anything.”

M r Harbi Ali is believed to have waived his right to silence and is said to have admitted stabbing father-offive Sir David 17 times while the politician was meeting constituents in a church hall.

The suspect had not been on MI5’s “subject of interest” list. But he had been referred to the early stages of the British government’s anti-terror scheme.

Police and security services are examining the theory he was radicalised online during lockdown.

And they believe the suspect may have been inspired by al-Shabaab, an al-Qa’ida offshoot operating in Somalia and Kenya.

Mr Harbi Ali had Islamist material on his phone and may have targeted Tory Sir David, 69, because he was a symbol of the British government. The attack was also linked to a jihadist ideology because of statements the suspect reportedly made to arresting officers.

He was being held at a police station in London on Sunday. Officers can question him until October 22.

Sources said he lived in North London but had family ties to Southend, close to Leigh-on-Sea.