From The Guardian (UK)
by Vikram Dodd
Police link 25-year-old man held in connection with alleged bombing campaign to killing of Mohammed Saleem, 82
Police said on Sunday that they were treating the murder of an Asian man near a mosque as a terrorist attack, and have arrested a man already being held over an alleged terror bombing campaign against Muslims.
Mohammed Saleem, 82, was stabbed to death in April as he walked the few hundred yards from a Birmingham mosque to his home with the aid of a stick.
Counter-terrorism detectives arrested a 25-year-old man on Saturday in connection with the murder, which they described as a “further act of terrorism”. He is one of two Ukrainian men arrested on Thursday over three bomb attacks in a month on mosques in the West Midlands.
Saleem was stabbed three times in the back at 10.10pm on 29 April in the Small Heath area of Birmingham. Images taken from CCTV in the aftermath of the attack showed a white male wearing a cap running away, and detectives said a racial motive was a line of inquiry.
Saleem’s funeral, delayed because of the police investigation, was attended by more than 5,000 people.
After the arrests for bomb attacks against mosques in Walsall on 21 June and Tipton on 12 July, police discovered a third explosion had taken place on 28 June close to Wolverhampton Central mosque.
On Saturday police said one of the two men arrested had also been arrested on suspicion of Saleem’s murder.
Officers put on 12-hour shifts last week amid fears the bombers could strike again, a move the force described as extraordinary, have returned to working normal eight-hour shifts.
The investigation is being led by Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, who said: “The murder of Mohammed Saleem now forms part of the wider West Midlands counter-terrorism unit investigation.”
Detectives continue to examine if the murder of Saleem and the attacks against the mosques are linked.
