British police name third London Bridge
attacker as Youssef Zaghba
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[June 06, 2017]
By Estelle Shirbon and Kate Holton
LONDON (Reuters) - British police named the
third of the jihadis who killed seven people in a knife and van attack
in London as Youssef Zaghba, 22, believed to be an Italian national of
Moroccan descent.
The fallout from the attack eclipsed all other subjects in the political
campaign ahead of Thursday's general election, with both the ruling
Conservatives and opposition Labour Party battling to defend their
records on security.
Police said Zaghba had not been a subject of interest for them or for
the MI5 domestic intelligence agency.
Earlier, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera had reported that Zaghba
had been stopped at an Italian airport because authorities believed he
was on his way to Syria, and that Italian officials had warned British
counterparts about him.
In Britain's third Islamist attack in as many months, the three men
rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday evening
before running into the bustling Borough Market area, where they slit
throats and stabbed people.
Police had named the other two attackers as Khuram Butt, 27, a British
national born in Pakistan, and Rachid Redouane, 30, who had claimed to
be Moroccan and Libyan. Butt was previously known to security agencies
and had appeared in a British TV documentary called "The Jihadis Next
Door".
As these details have emerged, Prime Minister Theresa May has faced
questions about her record overseeing cuts to police numbers when she
was interior minister.
The latest opinion poll on voting intentions, by Survation for ITV, had
the Conservatives' lead over Labour narrowing to just one point from six
points in the same poll a week earlier.
However, the consensus among pollsters remains that May's party, who
have been in government since 2010, will win a majority.
"ATTACK ON THE FREE WORLD"
Saturday's rampage followed a suicide bombing that killed 22 adults and
children at a pop concert in Manchester two weeks ago, and an attack in
March when five people died after a car was driven into pedestrians on
London's Westminster Bridge.
All three of the London Bridge attackers were shot dead at the scene by
officers within eight minutes of police receiving the first emergency
call.
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Italian national Youssef Zaghba, 22, identified by Italian and
British law enforcement bodies as the third man shot dead by police
officers during the attack on London Bridge and Borough Market is
seen on right with the other two men named, Khuram Shazad Butt on
left and Rachid Redouane, in an undated image handed out by the
Metropolitan Police, June 6, 2017, Metropolitan Police Handout via
REUTERS
The first among the dead to be named were Christine Archibald, a
Canadian and Britons James McMullan and Kirsty Boden. The 48 injured
included people from Britain, France, Spain, Australia and New
Zealand, in what May called "an attack on the free world".
"As she ran towards danger, in an effort to help people on the
bridge, Kirsty sadly lost her life," said Boden's family in a
statement on Tuesday. She was a nurse.
A nationwide minute of silence was held at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) to
honour all the victims.
Before the recent attacks, Brexit and domestic issues such as the
state of the health service and the cost of care for the elderly had
dominated the election campaign.
When May called the election in April, her Conservatives led in
opinion polls by 20 points or more.
But an announcement - made before the Manchester and London Bridge
attacks - that they planned to make some of the elderly pay more for
their care saw that lead start to shrink, to between one and 12
points now.
The polls have continued to narrow since the attacks took place.
Security has become the number one issue and both main parties
issued statements on Tuesday portraying their own positions on
policing and intelligence as the most robust.
(Additional reporting by Antonella Cinelli and Gavin Jones in Rome,
Alistair Smout and William James; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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