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London Bridge attacker named as Usman Khan, 28 – as it happened

Man was part of 2010 plot to attack the Stock Exchange which was disrupted by MI5 and the police

How the London Bridge terror attack unfolded – video report

Calla Wahlquist (now), Kevin Rawlinson and Matthew Weaver (earlier)

What we know about the London Bridge attacker

The Met has identified the London Bridge attacker as Usman Khan, a 28-year-old man released from prison on a licence (parole) in December 2018 after spending eight years in jail for terrorism offences.
He pleaded guilty in 2012 to offences including planning and raising funds for terror related activities and planned to establish, and train at, a terrorist military training facility in Kashmir. The judge termed his plans a “serious, long term venture in terrorism” and warned he may pose an ongoing risk to the public.
You can read more about his history here.

Khan was wearing an electronic tag and had reportedly been invited to attend a justice conference on prison rehabilitation at Fishmongers’ Hall, on the northern side of London Bridge, on Friday. The attack began there.
One man and one woman died after being stabbed. Their names have not been formally released.
Two women and one man remain in hospital.
Khan was shot dead by police after being restrained by bystanders, including one man wielding a fire extinguisher and another wielding a five-foot-long narwhal horn he had apparently taken from the walls of Fishmongers’ Hall.

8h ago02:52

Before the sun comes up in the UK, here are the first run of the London papers.

Updated at 2.58am GMT

9h ago02:25

London Bridge attacker once planned ‘terrorist military training facility’

London Bridge suspect Usman Khan once planned to establish and train at a “terrorist military training facility” on land owned by his family in Kashmir, according to sentencing remarks from his conviction for terrorism offences in 2012.

Khan was one of nine people arrested for involvement in the Stock Exchange Plot in December 2010 and, at 19, was the youngest of the group. But in his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Wilkie said Khan and two others were “more serious jihadis” than the others.

He said Khan should not be released before he had served a minimum of eight years of his 16 year sentence — which, backdated to his arrest in December 2010, saw him released in December 2018. He received a 20% discount on his sentence for pleading guilty and was subject to a terrorism notification period of 30 years.

Wilkie said Khan and his co-accused Nazam Hussain and Mohammed Shahjahan were planning to fund and establish the terrorist training school, with Khan and Hussain planning to leave the UK in January 2011 to train.

Wilkie said:

It is clear that this was a serious, long term, venture in terrorism the purpose of which was to establish and manage a terrorist training facility at the Madrassa, to fundraise for its construction and operation by the use of various means, including fraud, and to recruit young British Muslims to go there and train, thereafter being available to commit terrorism abroad and at home.

Wilkie said that even considering Khan’s youth, the risk he posed was “so significant that it can only be adequately met by an [instrument for public protection].” That would allow him to be remanded indefinitely so long as he was considered to pose a risk. The IPP sentencing model was abolished in 2012.

Said Wilkie:

They were working to a long term agenda, no less deadly in its potential than the potential for damage and injury the subject of the short term intentions of the others. They were intent on obtaining training for themselves and others whom they would recruit and, as such, were working to a more ambitious and more serious jihadist agenda.

In my judgment, these offenders would remain, even after a lengthy term of imprisonment, of such a significant risk that the public could not be adequately protected by their being managed on licence in the community, subject to conditions, by reference to a preordained release date.

10h ago01:35

What we know so far

Two people, one man and one woman, died after being stabbed in an attack that started at Fishmongers’ Hall during a conference about rehabilitating offenders.
Two women and one man were injured and remain in hospital.
The suspect was shot dead by police on London Bridge, about 2pm. He has been identified as Usman Khan, a 28-year-old man who was jailed for terrorism offences in 2012 after pleading guilty to involvement in the 2010 Stock Exchange Plot.
He was arrested in December 2010 and released on licence (parole) in December 2018, wearing an electronic tag. He had reportedly been invited to attend the Learning Together conference.
Nine men, including Khan, pleaded guilty on the eve of their trial to plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey, and had a handwritten list noting the names and addresses of other potential targets including Boris Johnson, who was then mayor of London.
The plot was said to be inspired by al-Qaida.
The sentencing judge identified Khan and two others as “the more serious jihadists” and said they should not be released until they were no longer a threat to the public.
Johnson telegraphed concerns with the parole system in his second press statement late on Friday, telling reporters had “long argued” that it was a “mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early.”

10h ago01:10

University of Cambridge ‘devastated’

Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said he was “devastated” that an event organised by its Institute of Criminology was targeted in the attack.

He said:

I am devastated to learn that today’s hateful attack on London Bridge may have been targeted at staff, students and alumni attending an event organised by the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology.

We are in touch with the Metropolitan Police, and awaiting further details of the victims.

We mourn the dead and we hope for a speedy recovery for the injured. Our thoughts are with all their families and friends.

10h ago01:07

The 2010 Stock Exchange plot, which the Met said bridge attacker Usman Khan was involved with, was said by prosecutors to have been inspired by al-Qaida.

Nine men pleaded guilty over the incident in 2012.

10h ago00:58

Vikram Dodd

London Bridge attacker Usman Khan was jailed for terrorism offences in 2012, the Met said.

He was part of the Stock Exchange plot which was disrupted by MI5 and the police.

He is also understood to have been a supporter of al-Muhijaroun, the extremist group which scores of terrorists were involved with, according to the anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate.

10h ago00:56

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu said the event began at Learning Together, a justice conference featuring ex-prisoners, academics and justice advocates. Organiser the Learning Together Network has locked its twitter account.

Basu said in a statement:

The circumstances, as we currently understand them, are that the attacker attended an event earlier on Friday afternoon at Fishmonger’s Hall called ‘Learning Together’. We believe that the attack began inside before he left the building and proceeded onto London Bridge, where he was detained and subsequently confronted and shot by armed officers.

Extensive cordons are likely to remain in place for some time and I would ask the public to continue to avoid the area.

The Times has reported that the attacker, who police have identified as Usman Khan, was invited to attend the conference and sat through a morning session.

Bryonn Bain, an associate professor with the University of California in Los Angeles, spoke at the conference prior to the attack.

Basu said police would be increasing patrols across London in the wake of the attack, and asked anyone with images or footage to submit it to police here.

10h ago00:46

Khan had terrorism conviction from 2012

Usman Khan was convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences and released from prison in December 2018 on licence, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said.

In a statement, Basu said police were searching Khan’s Staffordshire residence and that he is believed at this stage to have acted alone.

Whilst we are still in the early stages of the investigation, at this time we are not actively seeking anyone else in relation to the attack.

However, we continue to make fast time enquiries to ensure that no other people were involved in this attack and that there is no outstanding threat to the public.

As I stated earlier, police were called at 13:58hrs to a stabbing at premises near to London Bridge, EC1. Emergency services attended, including officers from the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police.

A male suspect was shot by specialist armed officers and I can confirm that he died at the scene.

We are now in a position to confirm the identity of the suspect as 28-year-old Usman Khan who had been residing in the Staffordshire area. As a result, officers are, tonight, carrying out searches at an address in Staffordshire.

Basu said a man and a woman were killed in the attack while three others, one man and two women, remained in hospital.

This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences. He was released from prison in December 2018 on licence and clearly, a key line of enquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this attack.

Tragically, two people – a man and a woman – were killed during the attack. Three others – a man and two women – were also injured and remain in hospital.

Updated at 1.35am GMT

11h ago00:40

Police identify the suspect as Usman Khan, 28

Police have identified the suspect of the London Bridge Attack as 28-year-old Usman Khan from Staffordshire.

Updated at 1.34am GMT

11h ago23:54

‘I did what any Londoner would do’

A man who helped tackle a knife-wielding terrorist who killed two people near London Bridge said he intervened because it was “what any Londoner would do”.

Thomas Gray, 24, was among a group of men who dragged the killer to the floor near Fishmongers’ Hall on Friday.

The tour firm manager said he stamped on the terrorist’s wrist to try to make him release one of two large knives he was carrying

Gray told the PA news agency:

I was brought up on rugby and the rule is ‘one in, all in’. I did what any Londoner would do and tried to put a stop to it.

Gray said he had been driving northbound on London Bridge with a colleague when they saw several people running towards the south of the bridge.

He said they did not know what to do, so he turned the car off and by the time he got to the attacker, he had been “wrestled” to the floor by “five or six other blokes”. He said:

He had two knives on him, one in each hand, and it looked like they were taped to his hands.

I stamped on his left wrist while someone else smacked his hand on the ground and kicked one of the knives away.

I went to pick up the knife when I heard a cop say ‘he has got a bomb’.

I then got back and hid behind a school bus which was full of kids at the time.

Gray said he saw “two or three” shots fired by police hit the attacker, who then “hit the deck”.

I then heard a fourth one and then a pop and a bang, followed by ‘run, run, run’.

I turned and ran and then heard a volley of shots from behind us.

Gray told ITV News the attacker was being chased by five men with a “fire extinguisher” before he was wrestled to the ground.

theguardian.com

Ex-CIA Officer Sentenced To 19 Years For Conspiracy To Spy For China |NPR

Source: Photo by Matthew Ansley on Unsplash

Former CIA officer, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, has been sentenced to almost two decades in prison after conspiring to hand over sensitive information to China. Reports say there is no proof that Lee was successful in his operations before his arrest. He had received over $840,000 from Chinese intelligence officers, had interactions with foreign officials, and attempted to acquire national defense documents. “Lee sold out his country, conspired to become a spy for a foreign government, and then repeatedly lied to investigators about his conduct,” commented U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia G. Zachary Terwilliger.

sofx.com

Sudan approves new law ‘dismantling’ Omar al-Bashir’s regime

Al-Bashir is being held in a prison in Khartoum [FIle: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters]

MORE ON SUDAN

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Sudan‘s transitional authorities approved a law late on Thursday to “dismantle” the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir, including the dissolution of his political party and confiscation of all its properties – in response to a key demand of protesters that helped overthrow his government in April.

The law was passed during a joint meeting of Sudan’s sovereign council and cabinet that lasted several hours, during which the body also scrapped a law regulating women’s dress and behaviour.

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The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which spearheaded the protests against al-Bashir, welcomed the law, saying it was “an important step on the path to building a democratic civilian state.”

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on Twitter that the law was not an act of revenge, but was rather aimed at preserving the “dignity of the Sudanese people”.

“We passed this law in a joint meeting to establish justice and respect the dignity of the people, and safeguard their gains, and so that the people’s looted wealth can be recovered,” he added.

‘Significant reform’

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said the new decree “embodies the demands of the Sudanese people”.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the new law was not an act of revenge but was rather aimed at preserving the ‘dignity of the Sudanese people’ [El Tayyieb Siddig/Reuters]

According to the new law, members of al-Bashir’s old party are barred from seeking an elective position in the next 10 years.

“This is significant, and to a certain degree it fulfils the demands of the people, who have been protesting for the past few months, demanding a change in governance,” our correspondent said.

Hamdok’s government was formed in September after a power-sharing deal between anti-al-Bashir groups and the Transitional Military Council that ruled the country immediately after Bashir’s overthrow.

Resistance committees keep watch on Sudan’s fledgling government(3:00)

Implementation of the law will be a crucial test of how far transitional authorities are willing or able to go to overturn nearly three 30 years of rule by al-Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari said the government has repealed a law used under al-Bashir to regulate women’s dress and behaviour and punish those found to contravene it with flogging.

The law was deployed to impose conservative Islamic social codes, restricting women’s freedom of dress, movement, association, work and study. It had been widely criticised by local and international human rights groups.

Al-Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP) had ruled the northeast African country since June 30, 1989, before a nationwide protest movement resulted in him being deposed him earlier this year.

Protests erupted against al-Bashir’s government in December 2018 and quickly turned into a nationwide anti-regime movement that finally led to his removal.

The army deposed him on April 11 in a palace coup, and in August a joint civilian and military sovereign council was formed to oversee the country’s transition to civilian rule as demanded by protesters.

A civilian-led cabinet headed by Hamdok is charged with the day-to-day running of the country.

Al-Bashir is being held in a prison in Khartoum facing trial on charges of corruption. Several other officials of his government and senior party members are also in jail.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

‘Bloodbath’: Dozens of protesters killed as army deploys south

By Arwa Ibrahim

Baghdad, Iraq – Iraqi security forces on Thursday shot dead at least 44 people in the country’s south in one of the bloodiest days of violence since the anti-government protests erupted in early October.

At least 33 protesters were reported killed in Nasiriya city after security forces used live ammunition and tear gas canisters on crowds while another 11 people were killed in Shia holy city of Najaf, where an Iranian consulate was torched a day earlier by angry protesters.

Security sources told Al Jazeera at least 233 people were wounded in the crackdown on protests in Nasiriya.

The Iraqi goverment fired Lieutenant-General Jamil al-Shammari, who was appointed a day earlier to manage the unrest in Dhi Qar province, of which Nasiriya is the capital, following the deadly violence.

Amid escalating protests in the country’s south, authorities in the capital, Baghdad, dispatched troops to “restore order” there, which has seen massive protests for weeks.

‘Force won’t scare us’

Hussein, a 32-year-old lawyer from Nasiriya who was at the protest site, blamed security forces for what he called a “bloodbath”.

“We had blocked off the roads and bridges over the past four days and security forces moved in on us to try to open up the bridges. They opened fire leading to a bloodbath,” he told Al Jazeera.

“What’s happening in Nasiriya is unbelievable. Nothing justifies this use of violence against us. We, the people, are extremely angry. Our blood is boiling. Our brothers were killed unjustifiably.

“But this use of force won’t scare us. More of us have gone out to the streets to either demand justice for those who have been killed or keep the bridges under our control.”

Khalifa, a 30-year-old protester, said most demonstrators in Nasiriya lost a brother or a friend during the bloody events on Thursday.

“The pain is deep and that only makes us more adamant to protest,” he said. “We will stay in the streets until our demands our met – no matter what level of force is used against us.”

The governor of Dhi Qar, Adel al-Dukhali, who had earlier blamed military commanders for the deadly violence, resigned in protest against the killings.

Al-Dukhali had called for an investigation into what he described as an “unacceptable” use of force against protesters.

Oil-rich but powerless: Who can solve Iraq’s electricity crisis?

Iran demands action

The events in Nasiriya come a day after anti-government protesters stormed and set fire to the Iranian consulate in Najaf, in the strongest expression of anti-Iranian sentiment by Iraqi protesters, who have taken to the streets in Baghdad and Iraq’s mainly Shia south since early October.

More than 360 people have been killed and about 15,000 wounded so far.

Iraqi authorities responded by condemning the attack and imposing a curfew in Najaf, while Iran demanded that Iraq take decisive action against “aggressors” behind the arson attack.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi, quoted by state news agency IRNA, condemned the attack and “demanded decisive, effective and responsible action … against destructive agents and aggressors”.

Najaf attack

Wednesday’s Najaf attack was the second of its kind this month after protesters targeted the Iranian consulate in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala on November 4.

The protesters were holding a demonstration in central Najaf when a group started to close off the main roads and set the tyres of police cars on fire.

A witness told Al Jazeera “security forces responded using tear gas and sound bombs to disperse the protesters who ran towards the Iranian embassy”.

“The protesters were angered by the security forces trying to disperse the demonstration. They started burning tyres near the consulate and eventually set the consulate ablaze, minutes after the consulate staff evacuated the building,” said the source.

Commenting on the developments, Iraqi analyst Jasim Moussawi said protesters setting the consulate ablaze was an attempt to tarnish historical relations between Tehran and Baghdad.

“Those who are responsible for setting fire to the Iranian consulate in Najaf have the same message as those who did it in Karbala. Their message is a warning against the intervention of Iran in Iraq’s internal affairs,” said Moussawi.

The violence will push the government to allow security forces to use more force to quell protests, he said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS