Man arrested over murder of Assad critic in London

A man has been arrested in connection with the murder in London last week of an imam who was a critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, police said Monday.

Abdul-Hadi Arwani was found dead in a parked car in Wembley, north London, on Tuesday morning.

Counter-terrorism detectives have taken over responsibility for the investigation into the death of the father of six, who died from gunshot wounds.

Scotland Yard said a 46-year-old man was arrested last night in Brent, north-west London, and is in custody at a central London police station on suspicion of conspiracy to murder .

Mr Arwani reportedly fled Syria as a teenager after surviving the 1982 Hama massacre, in which the current president's father Hafez al-Assad sent troops to brutally crush an Islamist uprising.

From 2005 to 2011 Arwani was a preacher at a mosque in Acton, west London.

Police say they are “open-minded” about the motive for his killing.