A second man has been arrested by officers investigating the murder of a Syrian-born preacher who was found shot dead in his car in north London.
A 61-year-old man was arrested by counter terrorism police on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder on Tuesday. Police say the arrest is part on an “ongoing investigation” into the murder of Abdul Hadi Arwani.
On Tuesday morning 36-year-old Leslie Cooper, from Brent, appeared in court charged with Mr Arwani’s murder. He did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey later this week.
Scotland Yard said in a statement that officers will continue to search addresses in London.
Abdul Hadi Arwani was found slumped at the wheel of his car in Wembley on Tuesday 7 April and a postmortem later confirmed he had been shot dead.
Detectives have established that Arwani had driven near to the scene of his death around mid-morning on 5 April, and had been parked up in Havenwood, near Wembley stadium, where he remained for a short while.
Counter-terrorism officers are handling the investigation into the murder because of their “expertise in the management of investigations with international dimensions and an established liaison network abroad”.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said officers will search the mosque where Arwani was a former imam.
“All officers involved in the search of the Mosque, the An-Noor Cultural and Community Centre, are sensitive to the impact that their presence will have and are aware that this action may cause concern in the local community.
“We have been in contact with trusted community Muslim advisors this afternoon to reassure them that the action is necessary and that the premises will re-open as quickly as possible.”
Arwani was known a critic of the Assad regime in his home country, though police reiterated on Sunday that they were keeping an open mind as to the motive.
Officers appealed to anyone who was in the area on either that Sunday or the following Tuesday to contact police.
They said they were particularly keen to speak to anyone who may have seen Arwani or his car.
The precise cause of death is yet to be determined by a coroner and an inquest is expected to be opened and adjourned at Barnet coroner’s court in the coming days.
Arwani’s family has thanked the community “for the outpouring of support during this extremely difficult time” in a statement which added: “We are touched to learn how many people my father helped, advised and inspired in his short life.”
