Thread: BBC Man dead in suspected Woolwich UK terror attack (Actual statements)

Updated May 23, 2013, 3:45 p.m. ET.

Police Arrest Two New Suspects in U.K. Killing .

By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW, PETER EVANS and JEANNE WHALEN

LONDON—British police made two additional arrests on Thursday in the gruesome killing of a soldier outside an army barracks, as an official said the two suspects shot and detained a day earlier were already known to security services.

The arrests of two new suspects on suspicion of conspiracy to murder—a man and a woman, both 29 years old—came as counterterror investigators probed deeper into Wednesday's brutal attack, which British officials said was likely terror-related. They weren't named, and were in custody at a south London police station.

The arrests are in connection with Wednesday's killing of a man now identified as Lee Rigby, 25, a member of member of the second battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers who served in Afghanistan.

Witnesses said two men hacked at the victim with large knives in broad daylight. Videos from witnesses quickly surfaced of a man with bloodied hands, apparently in the immediate aftermath of the incident, holding a large knife and a cleaver, and making antigovernment statements.

Police also said they had executed search warrants at six residential addresses in the U.K.: three in south London, one in east London, one in north London, and one in Lincoln, in northern England.

A statement from London police late Thursday described the investigation as "large, complex and fast-moving." Police also said they were "gathering information from witnesses, social media and a painstaking trawl of CCTV footage in the area."

The two men police believe to be behind the attack had surfaced in security service probes into Islamic extremists in recent years, the official said. Such investigations result in thousands of individuals facing varying levels of scrutiny.

Still, the development could lead to the kind of questions U.S. officials have faced in the Boston Marathon bombing, in which one suspect was previously known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In both cases, the attacks left authorities scrambling to figure out whether the individuals were acting on their own or as part of a larger network.

In the London killing, British authorities are investigating Islamic extremist links as well as potential links to Nigeria, a person familiar with the matter said.

At least one of the suspects is believed to be of Nigerian decent, a man in his late 20s named Michael Adebolajo, according to people familiar with the matter. But as of Thursday, the British government hadn't appeared to have broadened their investigation into Nigeria, according to a British defense official, on the belief that Mr. Adebolajo had little connection to that country and its continuing war against a fundamentalist insurgency group Boko Haram.

While the Nigerian population in the U.K. has grown significantly in recent years, Christianity is far more common than Islam among the community.

Police, who haven't identified the four suspects, declined to comment on their identity. Mr. Adebolajo couldn't be reached for comment.

The brazen attack on the soldier shocked Londoners and revived debate over how to confront terrorism in Britain, which suffered dozens of deaths in a series of coordinated suicide bombs on July 7, 2005. That incident prompted a huge revamp of the country's antiterror efforts, resulting in the thwarting of numerous major plots in the years since.

In the attack, police said they responded to reports of a man being assaulted in Woolwich, southeast London, by two other men wielding a number of weapons including firearms. Two men believed to be the attackers were shot by police after they arrived at the scene.

The men were arrested and taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries, where they remained Thursday under armed guard. Neither has been charged.

Abu Nusaybah, a 28-year-old in London who describes himself as Muslim in his Twitter profile, said in a brief message that he has known Mr. Adebolajo since 2002, when they met in the county of Essex. "I am surprised—but makes sense now, he was always hurt if he heard of Muslims being harmed" anywhere in the world, Mr. Nusaybah wrote.

He said Mr. Adebolajo was interested in foreign policy and believes that Western governments have "set up puppet regimes" in some countries that "oppressed the people." He said Mr. Adebolajo has worked as a fitness instructor in the past.

Anjem Choudary, a former leader of banned radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, said in an interview he knew Mr. Adebolajo by his nickname "Mudjahid"—or "person doing the Holy War" in Arabic. He said he believed Mr. Adebolajo converted to Islam in 2003.

"Brother Mudjahid was just an ordinary Muslim…He was attending demonstrations, processions, lectures" of al-Muhajiroun, said Mr. Choudary, adding that Mr. Adebolajo wasn't a member of the group. "There was no difference between him and others, thousands of Muslims who came across us. We lost contact with him completely about two or three years ago."

"What took place yesterday was a shock to everyone who knew him," Mr. Choudary added.

The Muslim Council of Britain strongly condemned Wednesday's attack, calling it a "barbaric act that has no basis in Islam."

A U.K. address database lists two different addresses for a Michael Adebolajo at two separate student residence halls at the University of Greenwich, dating back to 2004 and 2005. A spokeswoman for the University of Greenwich declined to say Thursday whether Mr. Adebolajo is or was a student there, saying the university was "taking our guidance from police" and couldn't comment further.

Police raided an address in Greenwich in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to neighbors. One neighbor said three women and a "teenage boy" were arrested. Another neighbor, Nicola James, 42, said one of the "attackers from the TV" had often visited the apartment, identifying him as having a beard. Police still at the scene Thursday afternoon declined to comment.

Police did confirm that they had conducted searches at another address Thursday, in Lincolnshire, in the northeast of England about 150 miles from London, in connection with the Woolwich killing.

Police are investigating the gruesome killing of a man outside a military training facility in London. UK Prime Minister David Cameron called the attack “appalling” and said it appears to be a terrorist incident.

Jane Slingsby, an employee at a small business in Lincolnshire located near an address listed as an Adebolajo residence, said police had cordoned off a nearby home and were searching it Thursday. She described the residents of the house as a black family who are "very private."

Plots Against Britain
Some of the incidents since 56 people were killed on July 7, 2005, on London's public transport system, in the '7/7' attacks:

August 2006 Police foil an alleged plan to use liquid explosives to blow up flights between the U.S. and the U.K.
2006 A London street vendor is sentenced to six years in prison for plotting to kill a decorated U.K. soldier.
January 2007 Authorities arrest eight suspects who allegedly plotted to behead a U.K. Muslim soldier while broadcasting the killing on the Internet.
July 2007 Police arrest four suspects after a flaming jeep crashes into a Scottish airport. The incident follows a foiled carbomb plot in central London.
2010 Roshonara Choudhry tells police she stabbed a former treasury minister in the stomach because he voted for Iraq war
2011 Several suspects are arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate knapsack bombs. In April 2013 the ringleader and two accomplices are sentenced to 10 to 18 years in jail.
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"It's a family you never see," she said. "The curtains are always shut at the house…they keep themselves to themselves." Ms. Slingsby said she had never seen the man identified on television as the Woolwich attacker at the property being searched.

Police said a major investigation was under way, led by the counterterrorism unit at London's Metropolitan Police.

Mark Rowley, an assistant commission at the Met, addressed questions about the amount of time it took police to respond to the incident Wednesday, saying that officials received a call about the attack at 2:20 p.m. local time and subsequent calls described the attackers as being in possession of a gun.

Police had officers at the scene within nine minutes of that first call and firearm officers arrived within 14 minutes, Mr. Rowley said. He added that police had met with community leaders and there was increased police presence in Woolwich and the surrounding areas. Some 1,200 extra officers were on duty across London with extra patrols at key locations such as religious venues, transport hubs and busy areas.

Mr. Cameron, who has described the incident as a "sickening attack" and curtailed a trip to Paris to return to the U.K., held an hourlong meeting of top security and government officials, known as Cobra, on Thursday morning. Police and intelligence agencies updated him on the continuing inquiry and the defense ministry briefed him on security.

The group also discussed issues of community cohesion and recognized "the strength and unity of response from Muslim community leaders," a spokesman for the prime minister said.

"The people who did this were trying to divide us. They should know something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger," Mr. Cameron said.

"We will never give in to terror or terrorism in any of its forms. This view is shared by every community in our country," said Mr. Cameron. "This was not just an attack on Britain and the British way of life, but it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities that give so much to our country. There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act."

"We have lost a brave soldier," the prime minister added.

In Woolwich, forensic police teams worked all night as a tent still covered the blood-spattered street where the killing took place. Flowers had been laid at the edge of the police cordon.

Early Thursday morning, several police vans carrying eight or more officers pulled up at the scene as neighbors peered through their windows.

One local, Wendy Okoye, said she was asleep on Wednesday when the attack happened, but woke to the sound of sirens. "I was terrified when I found out what happened. We've had murders here before, but nothing like this," said Ms. Okoye, a 48-year-old mother.

A local primary school opened, despite fears voiced by some parents. "We are focused on having as normal a day as possible," said Andrew Stern, a spokesman for the local council. "It's been very traumatic for staff and pupils."

Woolwich is dominated by the military base, which houses some 700 servicemen. Residents say the military personnel keep to themselves, occasionally visiting local bars at the weekend."We've lived together as a community for decades," said one local. Security has been stepped up at the barracks in Woolwich and across London. The Ministry of Defence "takes the security of its personnel very seriously," a spokesman said.

—Benoît Faucon and Nicholas Winning contributed to this article.
Corrections & Amplifications
British Prime Minister David Cameron highlighted media reports that the two suspects were known to the security services, but declined to elaborate. An earlier version of this article said that Mr. Cameron said the two suspects were known to security services.

Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at cassell.bryan-low@wsj.com, Peter Evans at peter.evans@wsj.com and Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...WhatsNewsThird

London killers are Britons of Nigerian origin

Times of India 25 minutes ago

Written by Kounteya Sinha

LONDON: Britain experienced a communal backlash against Muslims within 24 hours of a young, serving soldier being butchered with "stone age savagery" in Woolwich by two radical British Nigerians who had changed from being "devout Christians to ...

Woolwich suspect radicalised by hate preacher as MI5 admit both attackers were known to them - Second man named as Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale
- Adebolajo raised as Christian but obsessed with Islam as a schoolboy
- Claims that he was radicalised by now banned group Al Muhajiroun
- Parents moved him from Romford after fears over his behaviour


Radicalised: Anjem Choudary (front) at a rally in Paddington in 2007. Michael Adebolajo can be seen behind (left)

23 May 2013

Astonishing footage has emerged of one of the Woolwich suspects, Michael Adebolajo, with Islamic hate preacher Anjem Choudary during a 2007 demonstration in London.

Choudary, former leader of the banned Al Muhajiroun group, is pictured speaking through a megaphone with Adebolajo in white cap and robes behind him.
It has also been suggested that Adebolajo had ties with hate preacher Omar Bakri, who was banned from Britain and is now based in Lebanon.
The second suspect in the attack, in which Drummer Lee Rigby was hacked to death, was named last night as Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale of Greenwich, south east London.
Former classmates of Michael Adebolajo, a British citizen of Nigerian descent, told the Standard how he started becoming interested in Islam aged 15 or 16 having been raised as a Christian.
They said his Nigerian parents became so worried about his behaviour that they moved him from their home in Romford to London in a bid to protect him from being radicalised.
Yesterday anti-terror police raided addresses in London, Lincolnshire and in Romford and took away members of his family for questioning.
Both suspected killers of the British soldier who was hacked to death in the street in Woolwich yesterday were revealed today as known to MI5 but are thought to have acted alone.
But detectives are investigating claims that Adebolajo may have been radicalised after attending meetings of the now banned group Al Muhajiroun.
Adebolajo, believed to be 28, was filmed after the atrocity wielding a bloodied meat cleaver, saying: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you."

In the chilling footage, with hands covered in blood, he explains his terrifying actions, saying : "We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,"
He is said to have formally converted to Islam in 2003 when he started using the name Mujahid.
He attended Marshalls Park school in Romford and was described as a "nice, normal guy" by friends, who expressed "utter shock" at seeing him on television covered in blood brandishing a meat cleaver and machete, declaring "you and your kids will be next".
A friend, who asked not to be identified, said: "He was a Christian. A nice, normal guy. All his friends were white and used to go round to each other's houses all the time.
"He started getting involved with Islam aged about 15 or 16, and that is why his parents moved him away out of the area. It is utterly shocking to see what he has done. It's unbelievable."
Adebolajo began attending meetings of the banned Islamist organisation Al Muhajiroun and its successor organisations but stopped going two years ago.
Anjem Choudary, the former leader of the group, said: "I knew him as Mujahid. He attended our meetings and my lectures. I wouldn't describe him as a member [of Al Muhajiroun]. There were lots of people who came to our activities who weren't necessarily members.
"He was a pleasant, quiet guy. He converted to Islam in about 2003. He was just a completely normal guy. He was interested in Islam, in memorising the Koran. He disappeared about two years ago. I don't know what influences he has been under since then."
His alleged accomplice in the attacks is believed to have come from nearby Harold Hill.
Anti-terror police were today preparing to question the two men who are under armed guard in two London hospitals. Neither is said to have life threatening injuries after being shot by armed officers who arrived at the scene.

• Woolwich analysis: African links are probed amid fears of more ‘lone wolves’
• Woolwich killing: Keep wearing your military uniform, David Cameron tells London troops
• 'Better me than a child' - one of the heroines of Woolwich explains why she risked her life to confront bloodied knifeman

Officers were searching several addresses in London, Romford and Lincolnshire which are connected with the men.
A woman, said to be Michael's sister, was taken away by police from an address in Romford while officers raided a house in Lincolnshire believed to belong to his father, nurse Anthony Adebolajo, 56.
In another raid in Greenwich neighbours told the BBC that four people - two sisters in their 30s, an older woman and a teenage boy, were all taken away in a police van.
Boris Johnson today visited the scene with Kit Malthouse to meet police and members of the community.
He thanked the police for their work and emergency services and called on Londoners to "go about their business in the normal way".
The Mayor said: "I want to thank them [the police] and all the excellent work they've done in the past 24hours and I also want to thank the rest of the London emergency services. They've done an excellent job. Plainly this was a horrific incident."
He added: "I have absolutely no doubt Londoners will go about their business in the normal way."
The Prime Minister pledged to be “absolutely resolute” and urged Britons to carry on with their everyday lives.
In a statement outside No 10, David Cameron said: “This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror.
“We will never give in to terror or to terrorism in any of its forms.”
The Prime Minister said every community in the land was united in condemnation of the murder. He praised the brave women who tended the body of the dead soldier and stood up to his killers.
But he said there was no reason for people to change their lives. “I’m not in favour of kneejerk responses,” he said. “One of the best ways of defeating terrorism is going about our everyday lives and that is what we shall do.”
Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne urged Londoners to remain calm after around 50 supporters from the English Defence League threw bottles at police near the scene of the Woolwich murder last night.
He said : "The investigation into the shocking murder of a serving soldier yesterday is ongoing, and is of course a major investigation for us.
"It is only right that the ongoing investigations are allowed to take place and I would ask for Londoners help and support for us to continue. Please remain calm. London is at its best when we all come together and now is the time to do that"
He also denied reports that it took armed officers 20 minutes to reach the scene of the attack in John Wilson Street, Woolwich yesterday.
Police said the first 999 call to reports of a man being attacked in Woolwich was logged at 2.20pm. Four minutes later firearms officers were ordered to the scene following reports that the men were armed with knives and a gun.
Police said the first armed officers deployed to confront the two men 10 minutes later at 2.34pm.
Scotland Yard formally confirmed today that the victim was a serving soldier but said they were not releasing his name at the request of his family.
Security chiefs, police and politicians, including London mayor Boris Johnson, met to discuss their response to the "barbaric" attack at a meeting of the Government's Cobra crisis committee this morning.
Leaving the meeting of Cobra, which lasted around one hour, Mr Johnson appeared to indicate that yesterday's attack was being seen as a one-off incident.
He said: "Everything I am hearing leads me to think that Londoners can go about their business in the normal way and we are going to bring the killers to justice."
Earlier Mr Johnson also praised the bravery of the people of Woolwich in standing up to the two killers.

Witnesses said the two men first used a car to run over the soldier who was wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt.
Then they dragged him to the side of the road and using a meat cleaver and knives hacked at him "like a piece of meat" and tried to behead him.
The men then dumped his body in the middle of the road and calmly talked to bystanders while they appeared to wait for police to arrive.
Meanwhile, a woman who risked her life to confront one of the killers who murdered the soldier in broad daylight in front of horrified passers by described how she tried to calm him moments after the barbaric attack.
Cub leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, was on a bus heading through Woolwich when she spotted the stricken soldier lying bloodied in the road.
Her bravery - and that of others who tried to reason with the killers - has been praised, particularly in the wake of amateur footage from the scene, which shows one of the killers making political statements about the slaughter while still brandishing weapons.
She told ITV Daybreak : "He said 'Don't touch, I killed him'. I said 'Why?' He said 'He's a British soldier. He killed people. He killed Muslim people in Muslim countries'.
"And I said, OK. So what would you like? I tried to make him talk about how he felt. He said all the bombs dropping and blindly killing women, children
The victim, thought to be aged 20, had reportedly been on duty at an Army recruitment office in central London was on his way back to the Royal Artillery Barracks when he was attacked.
The dark blue Vauxhall Tigra used in the attack in John Wilson Street was covered with a red tarpaulin and taken away by a tow truck last night.
Security was tightened around all military bases across the UK today.
In London extra armed patrols were deployed around barracks but sources denied reports that military personnel had been told not to wear uniforms off base.
In a statement, the Greenwich Islamic Centre said: "The Muslims of the Greenwich Islamic Centre in the Royal Borough of Greenwich today condemn in the strongest terms the barbaric murder of a serving Army officer and share the grief and sorrow of the nation. Our hearts go out to the family, colleagues and friends of the victim of this despicable and horrific tragedy.
"We are all very deeply shocked and saddened to have witnessed a terrible crime in our neighbourhood.
"We do not and will never support such evil acts, and strongly suggest that both of these men should be severely punished as criminal and not as so-called 'Muslims' for the crime they have committed, with full force of law."
Serving soldier Zak Dempster, 36, laid flowers at the barracks. The soldier, who serves in a regiment in Kent was wearing a Help for Heroes t shirt like the victim.
The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers soldier said: "I am paying my respects this man has a family. This is so sad. I was brought up around here even though I now serve in Kent.
"It is terrible for the community. We are told to be careful when wearing uniform in public what with all the tensions. It should not be like that."
Police appealed to anyone who filmed or took photos in John Wilson Street to send them to police via woolwich@metincident.co.uk or ring the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline 0800 789 321.
　
　
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/woolwich-suspect-radicalised-by-hate-preacher-as-mi5-admit-both-attackers-were-known-to-them-8627618.html