‘UK MP’s killer was referred to counterterrorism scheme’

LEIGH-ON-SEA (AFP) – The attacker who fatally stabbed British lawmaker David Amess was referred to an official counterterrorist scheme for those thought to be at risk of radicalization, according to media reports.

Police said late Saturday that detectives had until Friday, Oct. 22, to question the suspect after he was detained under the Terrorism Act, which allowed them to extend his detention.

Veteran Conservative MP David Amess, 69, was talking with voters at a church in the small town of Leigh-on-Sea east of London when he was stabbed to death on Friday.

Police have said they are investigating “a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism.”

The investigation is being led by Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command.

The BBC said it had received confirmation from

Whitehall officials that the man’s name is Ali Harbi Ali.

Ali, a British citizen of Somali heritage, had been referred to Prevent, the UK’s scheme for those thought at risk of radicalization a few years ago, the BBC reported. Ali is believed not to have spent long on the program, which is voluntary, and was never formally a “subject of interest” to MI5, the domestic security agency, said the BBC.

Police and security services believe the attacker acted alone and was “selfradicalized,” The Sunday Times reported, while he may have been inspired by Al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda-linked Islamists in Somalia.

Ali’s father Harbi Ali Kullane, a former adviser to the prime minister of Somalia, confirmed to The Sunday Times that his son was in custody, adding: “I’m feeling very traumatized.”

Police said they have been carrying out searches at three addresses in the London area in a “fast-paced investigation.”

The Sun tabloid reported that the attacker stabbed Amess multiple times in the presence of two women staff, before sitting down and waiting for police to arrive.

The Daily Mail newspaper reported that he had booked an appointment a week ahead.

On Saturday evening, hundreds of mourners attended a candlelit vigil at a sports field near the scene of the crime, holding a minute’s silence in the MP’s memory.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier visited the crime scene to pay his respects on Saturday, laying floral wreaths outside the church with the leader of the opposition, labor leader Keir Starmer in a rare show of unity.

Residents, including members of the Muslim community, also heaped bouquets next to the police tape.