Ali grew up in north London and is understood is have gone to school in Tottenham.īy 2010, aged 21, Ali took part in an avowedly non-political humanitarian relief mission to Gaza, called Road 2 Hope. On Sunday the family home was empty and had been subjected to searches by counter-terrorism investigators. The same sources say that Ali came from a Ethiopian background but was a British national, and that he had a strained relationship with his family, who live in Enfield, north London.
A number of British Muslims have similar histories, but have no involvement in violence or related activities. On Sunday Ali remained in police custody in Southwark police station, south London, facing questions about whether he intended to carry out a terrorist attack last Thursday before he was wrestled to the ground and arrested by armed officers yards from the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street.Īli’s associations may have aroused the attention of the security services. If Ali’s claim is correct, it would mean he was known to Britain’s domestic security service last year, which is earlier than previously thought.
