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London attack: wounded policeman tells families 'I did everything I could' London attack: Khuram Butt's family stopped him travelling to Syria, says relative
(about 4 hours later)
A police officer who was stabbed in the face as he took on the London Bridge terrorists armed only with his baton has apologised to families who lost their loved ones for not doing more, adding: “I want you to know I did everything I could.” London Bridge killer Khuram Butt supported Islamic State and tried to travel to Syria but was stopped by family members, a relative has said.
The British Transport Police officer, who was one of the first on the scene as Saturday’s atrocity unfolded, is still seriously unwell with wounds to his head, arm and leg. Fahad Khan, whose cousin Zarah Rahman was married to Butt, said he believed either family or police had confiscated Butt’s passport to prevent him from travelling to the conflict-torn country around two years ago.
“I feel like I did what any other person would have done,” he said in a statement released through the force. “I want to say sorry to the families that lost their loved ones. I’m so sorry I couldn’t do more and I want you to know I did everything I could.” Khan, 36, from Upney, said Butt had “fundamentalist views” that drove him to back Islamic State and would watch hate preachers online.
He added: “Saturday night changed my life, like I’m sure it has for many others. My thoughts are with the people who died in the attack, but also with those that were injured and are recovering in hospital, including the three other officers that were injured, and all the members of the public who rushed to help.” He said: “I’ve heard from my family members that he wanted to leave her (his wife) as he had plans to go to Syria. I’ve heard that his family have stopped him and his passport might [have been] taken by his mother, father or police.”
The officer’s comments come as the last of the eight victims of the attack at London Bridge and Borough Market were identified when police searching for the missing Frenchman Xavier Thomas recovered a body from the Thames. As of Thursday, 29 victims are still being treated in five London hospitals, with 10 receiving critical care. Butt had “fundamentalist views”, Khan said, which had led him to support Isis. “I know he was inspired by one of the preachers who are giving lectures on YouTube.”Khan said: “He was of the opinion that what is doing in Isis, in the name of God, is quite justified.”
The investigation into the assault on London’s nightlife by Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youseff Zaghba continues with armed police making a further three arrests on Thursday night in east London. Two men were arrested on a street in Ilford, while a third was arrested after a search was carried out at a home in Ilford. All three are being held on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts. Asked whether he had ever felt that he should have reported Butt to police, Khan said: “Police already know these things and he had already been given a warning.”
The Ummah Fitness Centre, in Ilford, outside of which the three killers were captured on CCTV having a midnight conversation five days before the attack, is also cordoned off and being searched. Khan was speaking outside the Ummah Fitness Centre, a gym in Ilford attended by Butt, which was searched on Thursday by police officers.
Footage emerged on Thursday of the attackers rushing towards the police marksmen and trying to kill them, with armed officers opening fire and shooting them dead. CCTV recordings obtained by the Times show Butt meeting outside the gym with fellow attackers Rachid Redouane and Youseff Zaghba at midnight on 29 May, five days before they launched their attack on London Bridge and Borough market.
The dramatic video shows the killers first trying to enter a pub, but its doors are barricaded after the jihadis stabbed others. They then set upon a young man passing by. Another passerby throws a chair to try to stop the attack, and then a City of London police armed response vehicle (ARV) screeches into frame, with three armed officers rushing out of their vehicle in an attempt to save him. The images show Redouane placing his phone on the floor, before the men move down the road for 10 minutes and then return. Butt enters the gym, which is understood to open until 3am during Ramadan to accommodate fasting Muslims.
No more than 20 seconds elapse from the officers leaving their ARV to the attackers – who were wearing fake suicide vests – lying still on the floor. Khan said he saw Butt at the gym the day before the attack. “The last time I saw Khuram [was] the day before he did this thing,” Khan said.
Separate video published by the Times shows the conspirators meeting in the dead of night on 29 May, five days before the attack. They had bumped into each other at the gym, where Butt was praying. Khan said he joined him for a prayer, at the end of which Butt had left.
According to the paper, the images were captured near Butt’s gym, the Ummah Fitness Centre in Ilford, east London, and show Redouane placing his phone on the floor, before the men move down the road for 10 minutes. Khan said: “My whole family’s life has dramatically and significantly changed. Everywhere we will go, regardless of whether we are the victims or not, we have to answer the question.”
Butt wore an Arsenal shirt and a fake suicide belt during his bloody spree and was later pictured sprawled on the concrete outside the Wheatsheaf pub. A cordon was put in place around the gym on Thursday and later removed. Management had left a typed notice to the press outside.
As well as Thomas, two other French citizens were killed, along with two Australians, one Canadian, one Spaniard and one Briton. It denied reports that that facility was a “Muslim only” gym adding that “at least half of our regular attendees are not Muslim”.
“We are open and welcoming to all people,” it read. “In addition we at UFC gym are shocked and deeply saddened by the events that occurred at London Bridge and Borough on Saturday night. There is never any justification for indiscriminately killing civilians.
“We have hundreds of people training at UFC each week. We are a welcoming and open part of the community. While Mr Butt did occasionally train here at UFC gym we do not know him well nor did we see anything of concern, we will of course help the police in any way we can.
“In these challenging times it is important we all stand united, we must avoid scapegoating any part of the community.”
The investigation into the assault on London’s nightlife that claimed the lives of eight people and saw dozens more injured also saw three men arrested in Ilford in the early hours of Thursday.
A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism from a residential property in Wingate Road, just metres away from the Ummah Fitness Centre. Two others were arrested on the street, one on suspicion of preparation for acts of terrorism, the other on drugs offences.
Fazal Mahmoud, 57, who lives opposite the raided house in Wingate Road, said that the family there consisted of a mother, her three sons, and the wife of the eldest son and their children.
Another neighbour said he had witnessed the raid: “They [police] blocked both ends with an unmarked vehicle in the middle of the street. I heard people shouting ‘armed police’, waking up all the neighbourhood, then they take everybody out of this house.
The neighbour said he saw two men being detained. “I saw them on the street, lying on the street when they put their handcuffs on – typical procedure for police,” he said. “I think there was around one or two teams of anti-terror squad.”
The Met police said the police cordon around the scene of the attack was likely to stay in place until Sunday evening at the earliest as the continued the investigation.