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Liverpool bomb: Be alert but not alarmed, says Kit Malthouse Liverpool bomb: Suspect seemed a genuine Christian, says church worker
(about 3 hours later)
Emad al-Swealmeen (on right in light grey jacket) during a service at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, alongside the bishop Right Reverend Cyril Ashton Emad Al Swealmeen (on right in light grey jacket) during a service at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, alongside the bishop Right Reverend Cyril Ashton
The public should stay alert but not be alarmed, Home Office minister Kit Malthouse has said after the UK's terror threat level was raised following the Liverpool bombing. A church worker who once housed the man suspected of the Liverpool bombing has described him as a "genuine Christian".
The suspect - Emad Al Swealmeen, 32 - is understood to be an asylum seeker who converted to Christianity in 2017. Malcolm Hitchcott told the BBC he befriended the suspect Emad Al Swealmeen through a Christianity course run for asylum seekers - and later took him in when he was destitute.
He died when a bomb went off in a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital. He said Al Swealmeen was "lovely" but: "What went wrong, I do not know".
Police are now examining whether the main charge on the device failed to explode, the BBC has been told. According to asylum support workers, Al Swealmeen was refused asylum in 2014 and lost an appeal three years later.
Counter-terrorism officers are also said to be looking at whether the device was constructed using the homemade explosive triacetone triperoxide or TATP. Asylum Link - a Liverpool-based organisation helping asylum seekers and refugees - told the BBC they supported him between 2014 and 2017, but since then he had not been in touch except earlier this year when he asked for clothes.
TATP has been used in a number of terror attacks, most recently in the UK in 2017 at the Manchester Arena and Parsons Green underground station in London. There are restrictions on the sale of chemicals used to make TATP. It is not clear whether the Home Office ever tried to remove Al Swealmeen from the UK or whether he was part of a large backlog of unresolved or incomplete cases. The Home Office has been contacted for clarification.
The bombing happened outside the maternity hospital shortly before 11:00 GMT on Remembrance Sunday. Police named Al Swealmeen, 32, as the suspect in the terrorist incident, which happened when a bomb went off in a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital shortly before 11:00 GMT on Remembrance Sunday.
Footage shows the taxi - in which Al Swealmeen was a passenger - in flames, but none of the vehicles close by was damaged. The taxi's driver, David Perry, escaped before his car caught fire and is now recovering at home. Footage shows the taxi - in which Al Swealmeen was a passenger - in flames, but none of the vehicles close by were damaged. Al Swealmeen died but the taxi's driver, David Perry, escaped before his car caught fire and is now recovering at home.
Police are treating the attack as a terrorist incident but said it could take weeks to establish how the incident was planned and prepared. 'Wouldn't harm a fly'
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside on Tuesday, Mr Hitchcott said he first met Al Swealmeen at Liverpool Cathedral while running an Alpha course for asylum seekers, and that he said he wanted to be a Christian.
He got to know Al Swealmeen further in 2017 after his asylum appeal was rejected, and Mr Hitchcott and his wife put him up.
"He was on the streets, basically... he arrived here on April 2017, he was with us then eight months. During that time we saw him really blossoming as regard to his Christian faith. Every night we used to pray, my wife and him and if there was anybody else in the house we prayed for half an hour or so and studied the scriptures and we had a great time together.
"And I was in no doubt by the time that he left us at the end of that eight months, that he was a Christian."
Mr Hitchcott added that "he was absolutely genuine as far as I can tell" - but said he last saw Al Swealmeen four years ago.
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Answering an urgent question about the incident in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the government's crime and policing minister Mr Malthouse said the motivation for the attack was "yet to be understood" and police would publish more details of the attack in due course. Earlier, it emerged that Al Swealmeen converted to Christianity from Islam at a ceremony in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.
"However, this is a further stark reminder about the threat we all face from terrorism," he said, adding: "The public should remain alert but not alarmed." The Diocese of Liverpool's communications director, Stuart Haynes, said he believed Al Swealmeen was baptised in 2015 and confirmed in 2017 - but the cathedral lost contact with him in 2018.
The security minister Damian Hinds is due to visit Liverpool on Tuesday. The Right Reverend Cyril Ashton, the bishop who confirmed Al Swealmeen and who is pictured with him in a photo, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the bombing.
The UK terror threat level was raised from "substantial" to "severe" on Monday, meaning an attack is considered highly likely, because the explosion in Liverpool was the second incident in a month, following the death of Conservative MP Sir David Amess. "His confirmation was one of hundreds I have conducted as a bishop so I have no specific recollection of the individual. The church takes confirmation seriously and I know that he would have been thoroughly prepared with an understanding of the Christian faith.
One of Counter Terrorism Policing's senior national co-ordinators, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, said the change was a "precautionary measure and not based on any specific threat". "It seems that sadly, despite this grounding, the bomber chose a different path for his life."
In the years before the attack Al Swealmeen had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act for about six months because of his behaviour with a knife, Mr Hitchcott previously said.
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Watch: The cab pulled up outside Liverpool Women's Hospital and exploded into flamesWatch: The cab pulled up outside Liverpool Women's Hospital and exploded into flames
A local couple, Elizabeth and Malcolm Hitchcott told ITV News Al Swealmeen briefly lived with them at their home after his conversion to Christianity. Police are treating the attack as a terrorist incident but said it could take weeks to establish how the incident was planned and prepared.
Mr Hitchcott said Al Swealmeen, who was an asylum seeker from the Middle East, formally converted from Islam at a ceremony in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral. The cathedral, which was the scene of the city's main Remembrance Day service on Sunday, is a short distance from Liverpool Women's Hospital. Counter-terrorism officers are now examining whether the main charge on the device failed to explode, the BBC has been told.
He said in the years before the attack Al Swealmeen had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act for about six months because of his behaviour with a knife. They are also said to be looking at whether the device was constructed using the homemade explosive triacetone triperoxide or TATP.
Speaking to the BBC, Mrs Hitchcott said she was "just so sad" and "very shocked" by Sunday's incident, adding: "We just loved him, he was a lovely guy." TATP has been used in a number of terror attacks, most recently in the UK in 2017 at the Manchester Arena and Parsons Green underground station in London. There are restrictions on the sale of chemicals used to make TATP.
The Diocese of Liverpool's communications director, Stuart Haynes, said he believed Al Swealmeen was baptised in 2015 and confirmed in 2017. Earlier, the government's crime and policing minister Kit Malthouse said the motivation for the attack was "yet to be understood" and police would publish more details of the attack in due course.
The cathedral lost contact with him in 2018, he said. "The public should remain alert but not alarmed," he said.
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Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he had "no doubt" the Hitchcotts would feel numb. Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson, who asked an urgent question in the Commons on Tuesday, said there had been an increase in hate crime against Muslims in Liverpool following Sunday's incident.
He said: "So many people of all the different faiths try to reach out in the name of the common good, try to make themselves available for love, and when that's taken advantage of, or when things happen which subsequently you can't understand why that's happened, that does shake you."
In a statement, Liverpool Cathedral and Diocese said it was shocked and horrified.
"Clearly we cannot speculate on the motivations of this individual.
"However we are clear that the actions of an individual do not reflect a whole community and we remain united with all in the city and country who work for peace as we continue to pray for Liverpool at this time."
Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson, who asked the urgent question in the Commons, said there had been an increase in hate crime against Muslims in Liverpool following Sunday's incident.
She told the House of Commons: "Incidents such as these always provoke a spike of race hate. My team have been hearing of incidents where women in hijabs are facing abuse."She told the House of Commons: "Incidents such as these always provoke a spike of race hate. My team have been hearing of incidents where women in hijabs are facing abuse."
On Monday evening, police released without charge four men who had been arrested under terrorism laws in connection with the attack.On Monday evening, police released without charge four men who had been arrested under terrorism laws in connection with the attack.
Police also said "important evidence" had been found at an address rented by the suspect. Police are investigating two addresses linked to the suspect.
The property at Rutland Avenue near Sefton Park, in the south east of the city - where Al Swealmeen was picked up by the taxi - was "becoming central to the investigation", Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said.The property at Rutland Avenue near Sefton Park, in the south east of the city - where Al Swealmeen was picked up by the taxi - was "becoming central to the investigation", Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said.
Another address in Sutcliffe Street in the city, where officers believe Al Swealmeen previously lived, is also part of the investigation.Another address in Sutcliffe Street in the city, where officers believe Al Swealmeen previously lived, is also part of the investigation.
On Monday, the UK terror threat level was raised from "substantial" to "severe", meaning an attack is considered highly likely, because the explosion in Liverpool was the second incident in a month, following the death of Conservative MP Sir David Amess.
One of Counter Terrorism Policing's senior national co-ordinators, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, said the change was a "precautionary measure and not based on any specific threat".
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