May 24, 2013 -- Updated 1637 GMT (0037 HKT)
Tributes are pouring in for British soldier Lee Rigby, killed in a
grisly knife attack in London -- and police are now holding four
suspects in connection with the crime. FULL STORY
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WHO WAS LEE RIGBY?
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SUSPECT SEEN ON VIDEO
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WOMAN HAILED FOR CONFRONTING SUSPECT
Tributes pour in for British soldier slain in cleaver attack
May 24, 2013 -- Updated 2357 GMT (0757 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Muslim leaders calls for dialogue, say Brits won't be "easily divided"
- Family of slain soldier Lee Rigby speak of their sorrow at his loss
- Acquaintances say Michael Adebolajo, 28, is one of two men arrested the day of the killing
- A radical cleric says he met suspect Michael Adebolajo when he was a young convert
Stepfather Ian Rigby said
Drummer Lee Rigby was a "precious gift" who had always wanted to serve
in the army and was a devoted family man.
It was difficult accepting that his stepson died on his native soil, he said.
When a soldier is serving
in Afghanistan, "you come to terms with it," Ian Rigby said. "You don't
expect something like that on your doorstep. It's very difficult."
"I just want to say that I
love Lee, I always will, and I'm proud to be his wife," said Rebecca
Rigby, sobbing. "He was a devoted father to our son, Jack, and we will
both miss him terribly."
Rigby's widow: I'm proud to be his wife
Cameron: Strong indication of terrorism
London attack suspect caught on video
Deadly attack near London barracks
Her husband had been due to travel home to see her and their 2-year-old son this weekend, she said.
In the capital's Woolwich
neighborhood, where Rigby was slain Wednesday by two men who drove a
car into him, then hacked him with knives and a cleaver, a bank of
flowers left in tribute swelled by the hour Friday.
Many of those who came to
the road near an army barracks were emotional as they paid tribute not
just to him, but to the contribution of all British servicemen and
women.
A note signed by two
army cadets, reads: "I understand the great lengths you would have gone
to to protect our British people. It's a huge disappointment to hear the
way people have treated you in your own country."
One bouquet , propped in
a pair of black army boots, had a message that read: "RIP Brave
Soldier. Dream sweet dreams. Remembered always and never forgotten. Our
thoughts with you and your family."
One elderly man, using a
cane, had tears in his eyes as he walked, shaking his head, up and down
the flowers for half an hour. He removed his hat, looked to the heavens
and made the sign of the cross.
Another woman, loudly
sobbing, asked police officers standing by the growing array of
tributes: "Why did this happen, why did this happen here? My children go
to the school just there."
A man sharply dressed in
a suit and tie brought his toddler son to drop off flowers, each
placing their blooms next to the army boots. The father reached down to
hug his son, tears filling his eyes.
One note referred to
both a quote by the late Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi and comments made
by one of the attackers, saying: "An eye for an eye makes the world go
blind."
Another had a more
sinister message. Attached to a wooden cross adorned with a red poppy,
the symbol of remembrance for the British armed forces, it read: "Your
passing shall be avenged."
London attack: Eyewitness heard gunshots
Terrorism analyst on soldier killing
Cell phone video of London attack scene
Could London killing inspire other attacks?
Outpouring of support for charity for vets
Since the brutal
slaying, the outpouring of support for a charity that supports Britain's
wounded military veterans, Help for Heroes, has been so great that its
website has crashed.
Rigby, a 25-year-old
machine gunner and military drummer, was wearing a Help for Heroes
T-shirt when he was attacked in Woolwich, according to witnesses.
Help for Heroes said
Friday it had been "overwhelmed with people spontaneously showing their
support for the Armed Forces" since the news broke.
"This sudden surge of
interest in the work we're doing to help the wounded and their families
has taken us completely by surprise," the charity said, noting that some
were buying hoodies and T-shirts like the one Rigby had on.
"We just want to help,
and all funds we receive will be used to provide direct, practical
support to those affected by their service to our country."
3 men arrested in connection to slaying
There's been no indication that Rigby knew the men who attacked him with meat cleavers Wednesday afternoon.
One of the two, who
approached a man filming the gory scene in the Woolwich neighborhood,
suggested that Rigby had been targeted only "because Muslims are dying
daily" at the hands of British troops like him. Britain's armed forces
have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. All its combat troops are due to
leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
"We must fight them as
they fight us. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," he said in
the video aired by CNN affiliate ITN.
Friends, acquaintances
and British media have identified that man as 28-year-old Michael
Adebolajo, a British national of Nigerian descent.
Police have not released his name, nor those of the others they've arrested.
Adebolajo and the
22-year-old suspect also tied directly to the attack are now
hospitalized under guard after a confrontation with police in which they
were shot. A 29-year-old man arrested Thursday is being on suspicion of
conspiracy to murder.
Two women arrested Thursday, ages 29 and 31, have been released without being charged, police said Friday.
Police continue to search five addresses in London and one in Lincolnshire, which is in eastern England.
Suspect knew British Muslim radical leader
It is understood the two
people suspected of carrying out the knife attack were known to
Britain's domestic security service. They had been featured in previous
investigations into other people, but were not themselves under
surveillance.
Abu Baraa blamed
Wednesday's attack not on his friend Michael Adebolajo -- who he says is
the bloody, cleaver-wielding man shown talking in the ITN video -- but
on the British government and said there may be more attacks.
"As long as (British) foreign policy is engaging in violence, they're only inviting violence in retaliation," Baraa told CNN.
By sharp contrast, Prime
Minister David Cameron said "the fault lies solely with sickening
individuals who carried out this attack," adding that "nothing in Islam
... justifies this truly dreadful act."
British Muslim radical
leader Anjem Choudary told CNN on Thursday that he knew Adebolajo,
noting the suspect attended demonstrations and a few lectures organized
by Choudary's group Al-Muhajiroun.
In fact, an ITN video
from April 2007 shows Adebolajo standing behind Choudary at a rally
protesting the arrest of men who allegedly made inflammatory speeches
inside a mosque.
Syrian cleric Omar Bakri
Mohammed, who founded Al-Muhajiroun in the late 1990s, told CNN
Terrorism Analyst Paul Cruickshank by phone from Tripoli, Lebanon, he
also had been acquainted with Adebolajo.
Bakri Mohammed used to live in the United Kingdom but was barred from returning after the 2005 terror attacks.
Bakri Mohammed said
Adebolajo, who he knew by his Muslim name "Mujahid," attended several
talks he gave in London from 2003 to 2004 and was at his side at a
number of Al-Muhajiroun protests against the war in Iraq around that
time.
One talk Adebolajo
attended was at a Woolwich community center, he said, noting the group
met in such locations because they were not welcomed in mosques. The
very large majority of British Muslims reject Bakri Mohammed's views.
The radical cleric said
that although they did not have many interactions, Adebolajo stood out
because he was a new convert to the religion.
Bakri Mohammed said he had no contact with him after he left the UK.
Volley of shots
Dramatic video footage
obtained by Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, filmed from an apartment
block overlooking the street, shows the moment when armed police arrived
at the scene.
One of the attackers
rushes at the police vehicle brandishing knives while the other aims a
gun. Both are brought down by a volley of shots.
The firearms unit was
called in after the initial alert because British police do not usually
carry weapons. Witnesses remarked that the two attackers appeared to
wait for the armed police to arrive, nearly 15 minutes after their
assault on Rigby.
The two injured suspects remained in stable condition at separate South London hospitals Friday, the Metropolitan Police said.
The attack, which
Cameron and others called an act of terror, stirred anxiety and alerts
in Britain not seen since the summer of 2005, when coordinated bomb
attacks struck London's public transport network.
An additional 1,200 police are now on London's streets to reassure the public, police said Thursday. Extra security is in place for military personnel and sites.
Violent reactions?
The Woolwich bloodshed
spurred concerns not only about violence by Islamic extremists, but also
about attacks targeting Muslims by people angered by Rigby's killing.
In Kent, police arrested
a man on suspicion of "racially aggravated criminal damage" at a
religious building. And on Wednesday night in Essex, a man with two
knives was arrested after throwing a smoke grenade at the Al Falah
Braintree Islamic Center and demanding someone come outside to answer to
the Woolwich slaying, said the mosque's secretary, Sikander Sleemy.
Members of the far-right English Defence League clashed with police late Wednesday, with a tweet from its official account touting that "it's fair to say that finally the country is waking up!:-) NO SURRENDER!"
"Don't listen to the Government cover ups, The lies about Islam being peaceful," read another EDL tweet Thursday.
Political and social
commentator Mohammed Ansar appealed for "a sense of calm (and)
perspective" after what he called "a really, really heinous act of, I
would say, criminality, ... not terrorism."
"What we don't need are
knee-jerk reactions ... to really ratchet up tensions and really stoke
and inflame anxieties within communities," he told CNN.
Nearly 100 senior
British imams together issued a statement sharply condemning the "sick
and barbaric" killing, which they said had spurred "hate-fueled
individuals" to attack mosques and Muslims. The group called for action
and dialogue to prevent attacks by extremists of all ilks.
"We (urge) our fellow
citizens not to be taken in the mindless rantings of the (few) extra
extremists in our midst," they said. "We, the British people, are not so
easily fooled; nor are we so easily divided."
CNN's Laura Smith-Spark reported and wrote
from London, where Atika Shubert and Florence Davey-Attlee also
reported. CNN's Greg Botelho, Dan Rivers, Jonathan Wald, Carol Jordan,
Atika Shubert, Erin McLaughlin and Richard Allen Greene contributed to
this report.
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