Man with knives arrested near UK Parliament identified

The 27-year-old suspect went to school in Tottenham in north London and remains in custody at a south London police station.

London, Apr 28: Scotland Yard ay identified the 'knifeman' arrested near the UK Parliament on terrorism charges as Mohammed Khalid Omar Ali, a foreign-born British national.

The 27-year-old suspect went to school in Tottenham in north London and remains in custody at a south London police station. He was arrested in a very public operation near Parliament Square as part of an intelligence-led operation after a concerned family member contacted police. The arrest was made a month after a lone wolf attack left five people dead near the highly guarded Westminster.

Khalid was known to the police and the security service MI5 and searches at addresses linked to him are ongoing and therefore more information on his background remains withheld. The Metropolitan Police said yesterday he had been arrested in Parliament Street, at the junction with Parliament Square, "following a stop and search as part of an ongoing operation". A Met Police statement said: "The man was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

Knives have been recovered from him. "Detectives from the counter-terrorism command are continuing their investigation, and as a result of this arrest there is no immediate known threat." A witness described having seen two knives on the ground, one of which he described as a large bread knife.

Security services were reportedly tracking the suspect in a covert operation over some time, hoping to gather as much intelligence as possible before swooping on him. The bearded suspect was seen in pictures as calm and smirking into cameras as he was handcuffed.

PTI