Refugee killed near mosque ‘ by thieves after his £60k watch’
A REFUGEE killed by two knifemen who fled to a mosque to escape may have been targeted for his £60,000 watch, a friend claimed yesterday.
Zahir Visiter, 24, was stabbed near his home on Thursday evening shortly after waving off his parents and two younger brothers as they left for the airport for a holiday.
His attackers ran half a mile to the Central London Mosque in Regent’s Park, where they calmly switched clothes and mingled with worshippers before fleeing.
Armed police had sealed off the mosque after the attack at around 6.15pm and could be seen searching stairwells and the surrounding area for the killers.
Witnesses said Mr Visiter, originally from the Russian republic of Chechnya, had been attacked by a nearby canal before staggering back to his estate.
Paramedics performed CPR on him for half an hour before taking him to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A friend said Mr Visiter, an aspiring music producer, had been wearing an expensive watch which had been hanging from his wrist after the attack, as if someone had tried to prise it free.
They added he had been worried beforehand about being attacked, saying: ‘He phoned me two hours before the attack and expressed that he was in trouble.
‘He’d had an argument with someone which might have been about a girl. He
Knifed to death: Zahir Visiter also had a watch on which I believe was worth £60,000 which was hanging off his wrist as if they had tried to pull it off but had given up.
‘What he was doing with a watch like this I don’t know.
‘But everyone loved him round here, he was full of life. It seems to me these days life is just worth nothing, life has become cheap here.’
Witnesses said they saw two young men in hoodies calmly walk away from the estate, near Lord’s cricket ground, after the attack.
They are then said to have run into the nearby mosque, where they changed their clothes in the toilets and then mingled with unsuspecting worshippers.
A security guard at the complex said CCTV footage showed two men running in with a rucksack.
He said they changed from hoodies into shirts and trousers before washing their hands and feet among worshippers.
It is thought they may have known it was a busy prayer time and they could easily hide among the crowds.
Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan, director- general of the Islamic Cultural Centre London, said: ‘There were up to 100 to 150 people in the mosque when they came and people were preparing to pray.
‘But we don’t know who they are and do not believe they have anything to do with the mosque.
‘They came inside, they changed their clothes then we think they left.’
Another friend of Mr Visiter said he was
‘He was getting his life together’
from a good family and could often be seen helping elderly neighbours carry their shopping.
They added: ‘ One of the last times I spoke with him he told me he was planning on doing an apprenticeship and getting his life together, but now he will never get the chance.
‘ He was a lovely guy and the circumstances of his death don’t reflect the person I knew.’
Police were still hunting the killers last night. Commander Simon Rose of Scotland Yard said: ‘A man has lost his life in violent circumstances and we are working to identify the perpetrators as quickly as possible.’