LONDON — The man who died in a botched bomb attack in
the northern English city of Liverpool on Sunday had planned the blast for at
least seven months, police said Wednesday.
اضافة اعلان
Iraq-born Emad Al-Swealmeen, 32, rented a property in the
city in April and had made "relevant purchases" for his bomb since
"at least" that time, said Russ Jackson, who heads counter-terrorism
policing in northwest England.
Swealmeen's improvised device went off in the back of a taxi
outside a Liverpool hospital moments before Britain marked Remembrance Sunday
last weekend.
He was killed in the fireball, while the quick-thinking taxi
driver escaped with minor injuries after reportedly locking Swealmeen inside
his cab.
"A complex picture is emerging over the purchases of
the component parts of the device, we know that Swealmeen rented the property
from April this year and we believe relevant purchases have been made at least
since that time," said Jackson.
"We have now traced a next of kin for Swealmeen who has
informed us that he was born in Iraq."
The failed asylum seeker suffered from bouts of mental
illness that will "form part of the investigation and will take some time
to fully understand" said Jackson.
Swealmeen was taken in by Elizabeth and Malcolm Hitchcott, a
Christian volunteer couple in Liverpool, for eight months from 2017 as his
appeal for refugee status played out.
Elizabeth Hitchcott told the BBC she felt "just so
sad" and "very shocked" by Sunday's incident, adding: "We
just loved him, he was a lovely guy."
Malcolm Hitchcott told ITV News that Swealmeen spent time in
a mental institution after being arrested with a knife in an incident in
central Liverpool.
Conversion questions
The Times newspaper reported that the improvised device
contained TATP — the same explosive favoured by the Islamic State group that
was used in the 2015 Paris attacks and the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017.
The blast was the second terror-inspired attack in Britain
in the last month, after a British MP was stabbed to death as he met
constituents in southeast England in October.
The two incidents prompted the government on Monday to raise
the terror threat level from "substantial" to "severe" —
the second-highest — meaning an attack was "highly likely".
It has also brought Britain's asylum policy under scrutiny,
at a time when London is seeking to tighten its borders, particularly against
migrants crossing from France over the Channel.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said Swealmeen had been able to
exploit Britain's "dysfunctional" immigration system and stay in the
country, despite having been rejected for asylum, British media reported.
His conversion to Christianity has also prompted discussion
about whether some asylum seekers were using the process to bolster their case
to stay in Britain.
Liverpool Cathedral, where Swealmeen was baptized in 2015
and confirmed in 2017, said it had "robust processes" in place to
determine a person's "genuine commitment".
Malcolm Hitchcott told BBC local radio he was convinced
about Swealmeen's religious conviction.
"I was in no doubt by the time that he left us at the
end of eight months that he was a Christian," he said.
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