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Westminster attack probe: Scotland Yard granted more time to quiz crash suspect Salih Khater

Salih Khater remains in custody on a terrorism charge
Salih Khater remains in custody on a terrorism charge

Detectives have been given more time to quiz the Westminster terror attack suspect Salih Khater.

Khater, 29, was arrested after allegedly ploughing into cyclists and pedestrians in a Ford Fiesta before crashing into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament.

The British national, originally from Sudan, had been held on a terrorism charge but was later further arrested for attempted murder, police revealed on Wednesday.

Khater remains in custody. Scotland Yard said it was granted a warrant to detain him until Monday.

Forensic officers by the car that crashed into security barriers outside Parliament (PA)
Forensic officers by the car that crashed into security barriers outside Parliament (PA)

The suspect’s brother Abdullah Khater told the BBC he was a "normal person" and that their family, who are originally from Darfur, were in a "state of shock".

The Metropolitan Police's counter-terror head Neil Basu said on Tuesday Khater was not co-operating, while the priority of the investigation team continues to be to understand the motivation.

Mr Basu said the force is treating it as a terrorist incident because of its apparently deliberate nature, the method used and the "iconic" location.

The force said officers have concluded searches at two addresses in Birmingham and one in Nottingham, and continue to search a third in Birmingham.

Suspect: Salih Khater
Suspect: Salih Khater

Among those to express their shock at Khater's arrest was Anwar Mukhta, who said he has known the suspect for eight years.

He told ITV News the current narrative will be revealed to be a "lie", adding: "It is an accident, it's nothing to do with terrorists, it's nothing to do with any organisation that tried to make an attack to any Government department."

Residents who knew Khater have described him as a quiet man who frequently visited the Bunna Internet Cafe on Stratford Road in Birmingham.

One customer, who would only give his name as Adam, said he had been served coffee by Khater and that he was a polite and apparently humble man.

"I am still in shock. I've known him for about a year and he is a very, very good man," he said.

"I can't see him doing anything stupid. He was polite, humble and he kept himself to himself.

“The whole community is upset. I can't see it not being an accident - I couldn't see him hurting a fly, never mind a human being."

Ahmed Abdi, originally from Somalia, said Khater was regularly at the cafe, and was a "very quiet" man who "never spoke" and drove a small, old white car.

Police investigation: Forensics officers work near the car that crashed into security barriers outside Parliament (AP)
Police investigation: Forensics officers work near the car that crashed into security barriers outside Parliament (AP)

The 43-year-old, who recognised his image on the news, said he knew the man as Salih and had known him for around a year-and-a-half.

A police search is thought to have taken place about a mile from the cafe, at a tower block in the Highgate area, where a plainclothes officer prevented reporters from entering the 10th-floor landing.

Khater was previously an accountancy student at Coventry University, a spokesman said, confirming he attended between September last year and May.

He added that Khater failed the first year of his course and his enrolment was terminated.

The Facebook page for a man called Salih Khater says he lives in Birmingham, works as a shop manager, and has studied at Sudan University of Science and Technology.

It has subsequently been disabled and is no longer publicly available on the social network.

Birmingham Central Mosque said members of the local community believed Khater may have travelled to London for an appointment to obtain a visa to travel to Sudan.

Trustee Nassar Mahmood said inquiries in the local Sudanese community suggested Khater did not worship at the mosque and had shown no signs of radicalisation.