Masood
Photo: AFP
Middle-aged London attacker was criminal who wasn't seen as threat
Investigation finds that associates of attacker Khalid Masood wished to join jihadi groups; Masood had long string of convictions; Police suspect "Islamist-related terrorism'; UK had little knowledge of Masood on eve of attack.
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 convert to Islam, Masood had shown up on the periphery of previous terrorism investigations that brought him to the attention of Britain's MI5 spy agency.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan laying flowers in memory of the attack
Scene of the attack with a photo of Masood in the top right corner (Photo: MCT)
But the 52-year-old was not under investigation when he sped across Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, mowing down pedestrians with a hired car before running into the parliamentary grounds and fatally stabbing an unarmed policeman. He was shot dead by police.
Westminster Bridge
Masood (Photo: AFP)
"Our investigation focuses on understanding his motivation, his operation and his associates," Britain's senior counter-terrorism police officer, Mark Rowley, told reporters.
Therea May issuing a statement following the attack (רויטרס)
A European government source familiar with the investigation said Masood's name had cropped up about five years ago on the margins of an MI5 counter-terrorism investigation but interest in him had swiftly dissipated.
Police arrange flowers in memory of attack (Photos: Getty Images and AFP)
At the time of the attack, British authorities had "no intelligence about how he got to this point," the source said, adding that investigators were now rushing to piece together his background and contacts.
Photo: Getty Images
Although his associates included people suspected of being keen to travel to join jihadi groups overseas, Masood never did, said a US government source, who spoke to on condition of anonymity.
Photo: Getty Images
ISIS claimed responsibility for Masood's attack, although it was unclear what links—if any—he had with the terrorist group. Police said there had been no prior intelligence about his intent to mount an attack.
"An act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy," Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament. "He took out his rage indiscriminately."
British-born killer
Born Adrian Russell Ajao in Kent, southeast of London, on Christmas Day in 1964, he moved though several addresses in England and lived recently in Birmingham, central England.The Daily Mail newspaper said he was brought up by his single mother in the town of Rye on England's south coast, later converting to Islam and changing his name. Other media reports said he was a married father-of-three and a former English teacher who was into bodybuilding.
Police have released few details about Masood and what might have led him to carry out Wednesday's attack, the deadliest in Britain since four young British Islamists killed 52 people in the 2005 London suicide bombings.
Known by a number of aliases, he racked up a string of convictions, but none for terrorism-related offences. His occupation was unclear.
He first came to the attention of the authorities in November 1983 when he was found guilty of causing criminal damage. His last conviction came 14 years ago in December 2003 for possession of a knife.
"Our working assumption is that he was inspired by international terrorism," said the Met's Rowley.
But Masood's age does not fit the profile of militant attackers, who are typically younger than 30, according to counter-terrorism officers.
Shashank Joshi, Senior Research Fellow at London's Royal United Services Institute, said an MI5 report based on studies of several hundred British extremists found that half were born in Britain. Few were raised in very religious households and many, like Masood, were converts.
"Masood is not atypical in being a British-born convert with a criminal record. He was slightly more unusual in being older, but we do not know how long ago he was radicalised," Joshi told Reuters.
"If it was in prison, this would be a common pathway. Given the diversity of Islamist extremists, Masood doesn't look too unusual."
Detectives are questioning 11 people in custody, having made what they said were two more significant arrests in central and northwest England.
Iwona Romek, a former neighbour from Birmingham, told reporters: "When I saw the pictures on TV and in the papers of the man who carried out the attack, I recognised him as the man who used to live next door.
"He had a young child, who I'd think was about 5 or 6 years old. There was a woman living there with him, an Asian woman. He seemed to be quite nice, he would be taking care of his garden and the weeds."
In December, she said, he suddenly moved out.
The Birmingham connection
Birmingham has been one of the hotbeds for British Islamists. According to a study by the Henry Jackson think-tank earlier this month, 39 of 269 people convicted in Britain of terrorism offences from 1998 to 2015 came from the city.There are over 213,000 Muslims in Birmingham, more than a fifth of the population, according to the 2011 census, and there has been growing concern about divisions in the diverse city.
Masood hired the car he used in Wednesday's attack in Birmingham from rental firm Enterprise, and he may have rented an apartment not far from the Enterprise offices, which were among properties raided by armed police officers.
On the eve of the attack, Masood spent his last night in a budget hotel in Brighton on the south coast, according to a fellow guest who recognized him.
"Nothing in his demeanour or his looks would have given me any thoughts that would make me think he was anything but normal," said Michael Petersen.
In the days following the terror attack, its site has become a memorial ground, with many people laying flowers in remembrance, among them London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Prince Charles, for his part, visited those injured in the hospital.
50 people were injured in the attack, two remain in critical condition and two in serious condition. Among them is a Romanian citizen, who remains in serious after jumping off Westminster Bridge and into the water to escape Masood's rampage.
