The British police have launched an investigation into alleged links between slain U.K. lawmaker and Qatar, according to a media report released by The Times on Sunday.
A conservative MP for Leigh-on-Sea in England David Amess died last week after a 25-year-old man identified as Ali Harbi Ali stabbed him multiple times during a meeting with constituents at a Methodist Church. At the scene, armed police arrested the 25-year-old son of an ex-media adviser to a former prime minister of Somalia. He remains in custody. They are treating the attack as a potential terrorism incident.
Amess was the second British lawmaker to be killed in five years and his death shocked lawmakers across the political spectrum.
The motives behind the murder have been mulled by the police since Friday and security sources told The Times that Amess' links to the Gulf state have been also on the list of suspected motives, as the British lawmaker took a trip to Qatar shortly before the attack.
"It was the last issue that Amess tweeted about. Police are looking at it," the source told The Times.
Amess was chairman of the cross-party committee that looked to foster good ties between Britain and Qatar, and the Times newspaper said detectives were looking at this link.
Lawmaker Chris Bryant from the opposition Labour Party said he had received a death threat after calling for people to share "a kind message on Twitter today to a politician we disagree with" following Amess's murder.
Police said they had arrested a 76-year-old man on suspicion of malicious communications. Amess met Qatari Emir Skeikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani during his visit to Gulf state on Oct. 9 and 10. Following the lawmaker's death, Skeikh Tamin expessed sorrow and described his death as a "tragic loss."
"We remember with great appreciation his efforts to advance the historic relations between our two nations. Our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and the British people," Skeikh Tamin said, according to London-based media outlet Middle East Eye (MEE). According to a source from the British government there is a "specific, clear reason on why he was targeted."
