Police in London were seen searching an address said to be linked to Ali Harbi Ali, who has been arrested by British police under anti-terrorism laws following the killing of lawmaker David Amess, a source close to the investigation said.
Ali Harbi Ali is the son of an ex-media adviser to a former prime minister of Somalia.
Ali’s father, Harbi Ali Kullane, says he is shocked and “traumatised” by his son’s arrest, as police continue questioning the suspect.
Mr Kullane, a former adviser to Somalia’s prime minister, said counter-terrorism police had visited him, according to the Sunday Times.
“I’m feeling very traumatised. It’s not something that I expected or even dreamed of,” he was quoted as saying.
British authorities have not released the name of the suspect in the fatal stabbing of 69-year-old Conservative MP Sir David Amess on Friday, but British media have reported the suspect is Ali Harbi Ali, 25, believed to be a British citizen with Somali heritage.
Sir David, a long-serving MP, was attacked during a regular meeting with his constituents at a church in Leigh-on-Sea, a town about 62 kilometres east of London.
The Metropolitan Police described the attack as terrorism and said early investigations suggest “a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism”.
It is unclear what, if any, the suspect’s connection to Sir David was.
Police have been granted extra time to question the suspect, who has not yet been charged.
The BBC and others reported the suspect was referred to a government program aimed at preventing people from supporting extremism some years ago, but said he was not a formal subject of interest for security services.
Police investigating the killing were searching two addresses in London on Sunday.
The killing has renewed concern about the risks politicians ran as they went about their work.
The attack came five years after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed by a far-right extremist in her constituency in West Yorkshire.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Sunday officials were reviewing security arrangements for MPs, but she did not believe the killing of Sir David should change the relationship between politicians and their voters.
“This should never, ever break that link between an elected representative and their democratic role, responsibility and duty to the people who elected them,” she told Sky News on Sunday.
Associated Press
