Reading terror suspect’s ‘brother’ claims he was ‘defending himself’ in knife rampage and UK is ‘racist’
A MAN claiming to be the brother of the Reading terror attack suspect has said he was “defending himself” during yesterday’s rampage.
Mo Saadallah wrote in a Facebook response to a news report about the stabbings in Forbury Gardens, Reading: “This is not true. Khairi defended himself ... racist countries. Freedom for my brother Before !!”
He did not explain how Khairi was defending himself.
In a later post he wrote: “we are not terrois [sic] and f**k England. #The_kingdom_of_racism.”
The Sun Online has not been able to verify if the man is the brother of Libyan national Khairi Saadallah.
The 25-year-old is accused of stabbing to death three people and injuring three others after he launched a vicious attack on a group of people in the park at around 7pm yesterday.
Two of the injured people have since been released from hospital.
Police have confirmed they are treating the stabbings as a “terror incident”.
One of the victims has been named as James Furlong, head of history at the Holt Community School in Wokingham.
The suspect was detained and arrested at the scene, and Thames Valley Police have this morning said the incident is being investigated as an act of terror.
Police said this evening he has been re-arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Saadallah arrived in the UK in 2012 as a tourist before claiming asylum on the grounds that his life was being threatened by Islamists in Libya, the reported.
He has at least one previous conviction for a "minor violent offence", reported, and he is thought to have spent at least 12 months in jail.
He was being supervised by the National Probation Service, the reported, and court reports suggest a number of additional convictions for a man of the same name, age, and address.
None of the suspect’s previous convictions are believed to be terror-related, but security sources have told the he was known to MI5.
Saadallah is also thought to have been previously charged with affray, assault by beating, and possessing an offensive weapon following an altercation with a Sainsbury’s security guard who had accused him of shoplifting.
A neighbour of Saadallah's, who gave his named only as Adam, told the Sun that Saadallah had been "in and out of prison".
“A few months ago he threw his TV off the balcony and started smashing up his flat," he said.
"Police were called and he was recalled to prison. He only got out about three weeks ago."
Footage showed a suspect being pinned to the floor and arrested following yesterday's attacks.
Describing the attacks, Lawrence Wort, 20, a personal trainer from Chippenham, said: "A lot of people sat around drinking with friends when one lone person walked through.
"Suddenly shouted some unintelligible words and went around a large group of around 10, trying to stab them.
"He stabbed three of them, severely in the neck, and under the arms, and then turned and started running towards me, and we turned and started running.
"When he realised that he couldn't catch us, he tried to stab another group sat down.
"He got one person in the back of the neck and then when he realised everyone was starting to run, he ran out the park."
Police later carried out a raid on an apartment in a block on Basingstoke Road, less than a mile from the scene.
Around 20 armed police and counter-terrorism officers were seen outside carrying automatic rifles and a disc cutter.
More than a dozen neighbours were evacuated during the raid, and witnesses reported hearing a controlled explosion shortly after 1am.
Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, Head of CTPSE, said on Sunday: “The investigation continues to move at a fast pace.
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“We know that the suspect entered into Forbury Gardens in the centre of Reading and attacked members of the public with a knife leaving three people dead and three people needing hospital treatment.
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“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families who will be mourning loved ones after this horrific act, and to all those who have been affected by it.
"We continue to work with the coroner to formally identify those who have died and to inform and support their relatives."
