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15th Aug 2018

Westminster terror suspect named as Salih Khater

James Dawson

Police have raided three addresses in the Midlands following his arrest

The suspect arrested following yesterday’s Westminster terror attack has been named as Salih Khater.

The 29-year-old Sudanese immigrant was arrested after a driver ploughed through cyclists and pedestrians before crashing into a barrier outside the Houses of Parliament yesterday morning. The suspect has so far been described by Met police as “not co-operating” with their investigations.

Khater was named by the Daily Mail. His Facebook page says that he lives in Hall Green, Birmingham and studied at Sudan University of Science and Technology.

He is described as living in a “rundown flat above an internet cafe” and is believed by police to have travelled to London shortly overnight on Monday. Police have raided three addresses in the Midlands following his arrest.

Roger Godsiff, MP for Birmingham Hall Green, said it was believed the suspect had been living in his constituency. The Labour politician tweeted: “I have told the police and security services that they have my total support in doing whatever is necessary to protect the public in London and Birmingham.”

 

A man and a woman were taken to hospital with “non life-threatening”  injuries after a silver Ford Fiesta drove through cyclists and pedestrians and into the barricade at 07:37 Monday morning. They have both now been discharged from hospital.

Witness Jason Williams told Sky News he had seen “a man driving at speed into the bollard and the police have taken their time to go in.

“I saw smoke coming out of the vehicle. It’s all been high-speed and very, very dramatic.”

Scotland Yard is treating it as a terrorist incident “given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method, and this being an iconic site”, the Met’s head of counter-terrorism Neil Basu confirmed.