Two of the three terrorists - Khuram Butt (left) and Rachid Redouane (right) - who massacred seven people in a rampage which started on London Bridge. Photo / Supplied
Two of the three terrorists - Khuram Butt (left) and Rachid Redouane (right) - who massacred seven people in a rampage which started on London Bridge. Photo / Supplied
A KFC-eating jihadi who appeared on a TV show wearing Raybans, and a Moroccan pastry chef with an Irish passport have been named as two of the three terrorists who killed seven in the London Bridge massacre.
The murderer in an Arsenal shirt can today be named as British extremist Khuram Butt who was filmed unfurling an Isis flag on national TV and was reported to the police twice but still managed to launch murder on Britain's streets, the Daily Mail reports.
Butt, 27, a married father of two nicknamed "Abz" who was born in Pakistan, was so extreme he called fellow Muslims without beards non-believers, would not speak to women directly and was banned from a mosque for berating worshippers for being "un-Islamic".
He was known to police and MI5.
The football fan, who worked at KFC and Transport for London, wore an Arsenal shirt under his fake suicide belt as he and two friends crashed their van into crowds on London Bridge before slashing at people with large knives, murdering seven people and injuring 48 on Saturday night.
One of the friends has been named as Rachid Redouane, believed to be a Moroccan pastry chef who married a Scottish wife and lived in Ireland before launching the attack in the English capital.
Police say he was living in the Rathmines area of the Irish capital but he was not on their radar as a terrorist.
Butt's involvement is hugely embarrassing for police and the security services because he appeared in a TV documentary last year about British jihadis - and was also involved in a filmed altercation with police in a pair of Rayban sunglasses after he unfurled an Isis flag in Regent's Park.
On Channel 4's The Jihadis Next Door he was caught on camera alongside two notorious preachers who were well known to police and intelligence officials because of their extremist views.
He was reported to the anti-terror hotline after he became radicalised by watching extremist videos on YouTube. Police were later warned about him radicalising children in a park two years ago - giving them sweets and money to listen to him.
People attend a vigil for victims of the attack in London Bridge, at Potter's Field Park in London. Photo / AP
A friend said he was never contacted by the police or MI5 about his concerns, adding: "I did my bit, I know other people did their bit but the authorities did not do their bit".
Butt was "euphoric" and asking about how to hire a van just hours before the London Bridge atrocity, it was claimed last night.
A neighbour said that Butt wandered over and started asking about his van and how much it would cost to hire one.
Today Abz's family asked to "grieve in peace" as it emerged the terrorist held a farewell barbecue at his flat in Barking, where guests were handed cupcakes.
Neighbour Ramou Grant told Good Morning Britain: "Last week he called for a barbecue and invited all of us. [I'm] thinking, 'was this a send-off?'."
One of his neighbours told MailOnline he was a "cheeky chappie" before he became serious about Islam. His older brother was in the Territorial Army.
Aged 8 he was knocked down with a car and broke his tooth and damaged his leg. He got a £2500 ($4500) payout and walked with a limp after that.
A floral tribute in the London Bridge area. Photo / AP
In 2013, the neighbour said he started to wear religious clothes. He used to go to the mosque over the road, which she said was quite radical. Many young men who started going there turned out extreme, she said.
Butt's father died suddenly in 2002, which affected his son because he "took care" to bring up the family properly and make sure they didn't stray.
The family were on benefits but the father also sold fruit and vegetables at a stall in Queens Market in Upton Park. So they lost money when he died and the mother "didn't really care" about the kids, she said.
Salaudeen Jailabdeen, 40, who lives in a neighbouring block of flats, said the suspect had once been ejected from a local mosque for interrupting an imam. He then started preaching in his flat.
Last night a senior source at the mosque told the Daily Mail: "He repeatedly interrupted the Imam and that is not something you are allowed to do.
"He was asked to wait until the Imam had finished his talk and prayers before making his point. That is allowed in our faith.
"But he kept shouting 'only God is in charge' and would not stop.
"He was getting louder and louder and in the end the caretaker escorted him from the building - the prayers were taking place on the first floor of the building.
"Although it was two years ago we remember the incident well. At the time he had shoulder length hair that he would sometimes wear in a ponytail.
"When he was removed to the street outside he was still shouting and being aggressive so he was told he was banned from the mosque.
"I don't think anyone else - by that I mean the authorities - were told of the incident. It was dealt with by banning him from the mosque.
"He was seen in the streets of Barking afterwards but never came back to the mosque to worship."
Butt's actions came at around the same time as the now jailed radical preacher Anjem Choudary claimed that all Muslim MPs and voters were "apostates" three weeks before the general election in 2015.A spokesman for the Jabir Bin Zayd Islamic Centre said: "The imam was forced to ask him to leave two years ago.
"He was giving a speech on the up-and-coming general election and the imam was explaining how it was important to vote wisely.
"He got angry, complaining that it was nothing to do with him, and interrupted the imam. He was then asked to leave."
But the mosque said: "We feel until the police release more information it is not appropriate for us to speak about anyone that may or may not have prayed here."
Neighbours near the Barking flats where Butt lived said he had been well known to the community.
Commuters walk past a police officer on London Bridge in London. Photo / AP
Damien Pettit, 31, who said he could not be sure the man pictured was definitely his neighbour, said the man was "very much involved in the area".
Yesterday a photographer captured a detective carrying secret notes which appeared to suggest he had been quizzed by police as recently as last year.
Housewife Erica Gasparri, 42, told the Times she had reported the suspect to police last year after challenging him in a park near a school.
She said: "They were waiting for the children of the neighbourhood. They would give the children chocolate while talking to them. They would pray in the park for hours."
People run from the scene the attack in London. Photo / AP
After police raided Butt's home Barking, East London at 7am yesterday, it emerged he:
• Once appeared on a Channel 4 documentary last year about jihadis in Britain and had links to two notorious preachers of hate.
• Had previously tried to go to Syria to fight jihad but had been talked out of it by his family.
• Had been in an arranged marriage and only recently become a father for the second time.
• Had also been thrown out of a local mosque after he repeatedly interrupted the Imam during prayers prior to the 2015 General election.
• Had reportedly been reported to the anti-terrorist hotline, but not been arrested or stripped of his passport.
Iketina Chigbo, who lives in the block of flats raided in Barking, said he saw Butt just a few hours before the terror attack.
He said of the Arsenal supporting Jihadi, who he knew as "Abz", said: 'It was around 3pm [on Saturday] and I was in the process of moving so was loading stuff into a van.
"He came over and seemed quite excitable. He was wearing his Arsenal shirt and was asking about the van.
"He was asking where I got the van from and how much it cost. He said he was planning to move too and that's why he wanted to know, I didn't think anything of it.
"He was on another level of happiness and kept shaking my hand. He seemed almost euphoric.
People react as police attend to an attack near London Bridge. Photo / Reuters
"But then I saw the picture from the scene of the attack of the guy on the floor, he was wearing the same kind of colour top and I just couldn't believe it. I knew it was him, I recognised him."
The father added: "I've known him almost three years and we've had general chit-chat. We never had any suspicions, he seemed like a nice guy.
"It was so odd when I saw him and how excited he was about the van. It all adds up now."
Another neighbour said he knew the man as Khuram Butt who previously worked for KFC and more recently for Transport for London (TfL).
He said: "He seemed like a normal guy but then he became quite radical. I saw him on a TV documentary with an Isis flag some time ago and after that I tried to keep my distance from him."
A relative of his wife said he had been concerned about Butt's views and tried to raise the alarm with the family.
"In 2015 I heard that he tried to go to Syria saying he was going for jihad.
"But the family rallied around and as his wife Zahra was pregnant they managed to stop him.
"I was concerned and tried to talk to her family about it, she should never have married him.
"I realised he was quite extreme at Eid in 2015 when he accused me of not being a Muslim and said I was non-believer because I chose not to keep a beard.
"He created a scene and basically told us all we were kuffars [unbelievers] before leaving the party.
"I offered him my hand at the mosque a little while after that and he refused to shake it saying 'I don't shake hands with kuffars'. After that I didn't want anything to do with him."
Another neighbour said he knew Butt because they were both Arsenal supporters.
Police officers with riot shields on Borough High Street as police are responded to three incidents in the capital. Photo / Getty Images
"He was a nice guy, obviously religious but normal. We used to speak about Arsenal and I last chatted to him a few weeks ago after we won the FA Cup. There's was nothing untoward about him."
The man said that the extended family, including Zahra met to breakfast at a relatives' house on the night of the attack, but Butt was nowhere to be seen.
"The whole family was there, Zahra and the kids but Khuram didn't turn up.
"Zahra left shortly after 10 but I didn't speak to her much as since she's been married she doesn't speak to men.
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