LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British police investigating a deadly attack on Parliament made a new arrest yesterday as officials set their sights on accessing WhatsApp, the heavily encrypted messaging service that was used by the killer.
The arrest came four days after the lightning assault that unfolded in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament, in which an apparently lone attacker killed four people and wounded 50 before being shot dead by armed police.
The latest arrest was a 30-year-old man who was detained in the central city of Birmingham on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
A dozen people have been arrested since last Wednesday’s attack by 52-year-old Khalid Masood who deliberately ran down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge then stabbed a policeman just inside the gates of parliament.
Nine people have been released without charge, while a 58-year-old man remains in custody and a 32-year-old woman has been released on bail.
The arrest came as the Government confirmed Masood had used the WhatsApp messaging service, saying it was crucial that the security services be allowed to access the heavily-encrypted app.
Media reports said Masood used the Facebook-owned service just minutes before staging his assault, although it was unclear whether he sent any messages or just looked at the app.
Speaking to Sky News, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it was “completely unacceptable” that police and security services had not been able to crack the heavily encrypted service.
“You can’t have a situation where you have terrorists talking to each other — where this terrorist sent a WhatsApp message — and it can’t be accessed,”she said.