UK anti-terror police detain man with knives near Parliament

LONDON (AP) April 27, 2017 — Armed police carrying out a counterterrorism operation Thursday swooped in on a man they said was carrying knives in a bag near Britain's Parliament and arrested him on suspicion of planning terrorist acts.

A European security official familiar with the individual said the suspect was known to British security agencies and was thought to have been inspired by the Islamic State group. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters, said the discovery of knives suggested an attack might have been close to fruition. Authorities haven't released the man's name.

London's Metropolitan Police said the 27-year-old suspect was stopped and detained "as part of an ongoing operation" by the force's counterterrorism unit. No one was injured in the incident, which unfolded just yards from where an attacker killed five people with a vehicle and a knife last month. It sent a jittery jolt through an area that has been on edge since the March 22 attack.

Police said knives were recovered during the operation and that there was "no immediate known threat" to the public. Police said the man was being held at a London police station on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

https://www.mail.com/int/news/uk/5148334-uk-anti-terror-police-detain-man-with-knives-parli.html#.1258-stage-hero1-2
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Witness describes arrest of UK terror suspect

LONDON (AP) — A witness to the arrest by counterterror police of a man near Britain's Parliament says that he saw several knives on the ground.

Chris Kacyk says that he had just arrived to the area when he saw the suspect "standing with his back toward the public and his face against the wall." Kacyk says that the man was "tightly cornered by three heavily armed police officers with machine guns and two undercover detectives."

He says that he saw several knives — including one very large one — on the ground next to the suspect's knapsack. Security has been increased around Parliament after an attacker drove an SUV into pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge on March 22, killing four people, before stabbing a police officer to death inside the gates of Parliament.

Here he is in all his smirking glory:



Another fine ambassador for the religion of peace.