Imam shooting: police arrest two on suspicion of terror offences

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/16/imam-shooting-syrian-abdul-hadi-arwani-police-terror

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The investigation into the killing of a Syrian-born preacher in London has escalated after two people were arrested on suspicion of terror offences.

Detectives are questioning a 53-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man suspected of being involved in the “commission, preparation and instigation” of terrorist acts over the fatal shooting of Abdul Hadi Arwani.

The arrests came as the investigation focused on the An-Noor mosque in west London, where Arwani was imam from 2005 until 2011 and which police officers have combed for clues since Tuesday night.

Arwani, 48, was found slumped behind the wheel of his Volkswagen Passat in the Greenhill area of Wembley, northwest London, last Tuesday morning. He had been shot five times in the chest.

The shooting sent shockwaves through the local Muslim community and triggered a rapidly-moving investigation by Scotland Yard’s SO15 counter-terror detectives, who were on Thursday questioning Burnell Mitchell, a Muslim convert and a director of the An-noor mosque, on suspicion of terror offences and conspiracy to murder.

At the dilapidated two-storey mosque, a few hundred yards from Acton High Street, plain clothes officers came and went through the front entrance as uniformed police formed a cordon around the perimeter.

An official from the mosque sitting in his car outside the building declined to comment. A few hundred yards away a group of friends who said they had prayed at the mosque for years said the closure and prolonged police search was having an big impact on the community.

“No one knows what is going to happen, is it going to open again?” said one man who did not want to be named. “I am a bit sad to be honest. We can go to other mosques to worship but that was our place and this has got nothing to do with us ... surely after all this time in there the police could open the mosque now and still carry on their investigations?”

Arwani was a founding member of the mosque which was attended by the son of radical preacher Abu Hamza. In November 2013, a terror suspect evaded capture by leaving the mosque dressed in a burqa at a time when he was the subject of a control order.

Police have been told that Arwani, a part-time builder and a vocal critic of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, went to the Wembley area two days before his murder to apparently provide a quote for some building work.

Arwani went to the area again at around 9am last Tuesday. He was found two hours later with five gunshot wounds, slumped over the wheel of his car with the engine still running and his side window wound half-way down.

Detectives are investigating whether the father-of-six was embroiled in a dispute over money with figures at the An-Noor mosque, where he was ousted in 2011 and formally quit as a director the following year. However, the arrests on Wednesday evening show that police are still considering whether the killing was terror-inspired.

Leslie Cooper, 36, a Jamaican businessman who runs a clothing company, was charged on Tuesday with murdering Arwani.

In a brief hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday morning, Cooper was told he faces a three-to-four week trial starting on 12 October. Wearing dark green prison-issue jogging bottoms and a jumper, Cooper appeared via video link from HMP Thameside for the short procedural hearing. He spoke only to confirm his name.

The judge, Nicholas Hilliard QC, the Recorder of London, remanded Cooper in custody and ordered him to appear for a plea and case management hearing at the Old Bailey on 2 July.

Barrister Oliver Glasgow, who has acted for the Crown in a string of terror-related cases including the Woolwich murder trial, is prosecuting the case. Stephen Vullo QC, who acted for former BBC Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis in his indecent assault trials, represented Cooper.

Metropolitan police officers outside the An-noor mosque on Thursday said the search would continue as long as necessary. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Officers are fully aware of the sensitivities of conducting this search at this time and would like to thank the local Muslim community for their support and patience thus far in the necessary investigations that have occurred to date.

“This remains a murder investigation and a search for the truth; it is therefore vital that the investigation is thorough which includes a detailed searches of premises. Community leaders have actively provided advice and support throughout this investigation and continue to provide guidance in relation to the sensitivities of conducting the search at the An Noor Cultural Community Centre.”

• This article was amended on 7 May 2015 to delete a reference that is inconsistent with Guardian editorial guidelines.