Mohammed Khalid Omar Ali: Westminster terror suspect 'named'

The allegedly knife-carrying man arrested on terrorism charges outside the Houses of Parliament on 27 April has been named as Mohammed Khalid Omar Ali, according to the BBC.

The Metropolitan Police would not confirm the name with IBTimes UK as the individual had not been charged, they said. They confirmed only that the suspect was 27 years old.

He was arrested in Westminster yesterday, allegedly armed with a backpack full of knives. He was just yards from where Khalid Masood had stabbed PC Keith Palmer to death at the end of a bloody rampage on 22 March.

According to reports, the suspect in Thursday's incident had been watched by police and MI5, who were anticipating the attack after a tip-off from his family.

Officers waited until he was close enough to the Houses of Parliament to incriminate himself before swooping on him near Downing Street, home of Prime Minister Theresa May.

The man named as Ali is still in custody in a South London police station.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: "Given the horrors in London of a few short weeks ago – and our thoughts are still with the victims and survivors of that dreadful day – I wanted to reassure the public that our increased activity to combat terrorism over the last two years continues, both by police and security services

"Activity continues around the clock to identify and stop these threats and we are making arrests on a near daily basis.

I want to pay tribute to the bravery of my uniform and detective colleagues who are doing that work to keep us safe."