Westminster jihad attack: Details of Islamic manifesto sent by Khalid Masood minutes before slaughter, entitled “Jihad” included extracts from the Quran and other Islamic sources that call for violence

The jihadis cite quran chapter and verse in the their cause of holy war and no one has a problem with that. But if you speak of it, then you are banned from the UK like me (and several of my colleagues).

Westminster attack: Details of jihadi manifesto sent by Khalid Masood minutes before atrocity revealed

Report by Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation shows 12 suspects arrested following attack but none charged

Details of a jihadi manifesto sent by the Westminster attacker on WhatsApp minutes before launching the atrocity have been revealed in a report that probed why police arrested a dozen potential suspects and then set them free.

Khalid Masood placed a photo of himself on the front page of the document, which was entitled “Jihad” and included extracts from the Quran and other Islamic sources that he claimed to support violence.

A report by the Independent Reviewer of Legislation detailed how police traced the contacts who received Masood’s final message to launch a wave of arrests across the country, starting in Birmingham.

Max Hill QC said investigators initially believed Masood had sent the document to “specific individuals who may be of interest, but it quickly transpired to the police that a large number of individuals received this message and it wasn’t targeted at specific associates”.The Independent understands that the document did not include a pledge of allegiance to Isis, which claimed responsibility for the Westminster attack in a statement describing Masood as a “soldier of the Islamic State”.

Intelligence investigations found he had researched Isis online, alongside methods of attack using knives and vehicles favoured by its followers, but the discovery raises the prospect that the terrorist group issued its claim opportunistically and without proof of his support.

Masood had been known to security services since 2004, over his links with al-Qaeda supporters and Anjem Choudary’s banned Islamist network, but was not under active investigation at the time of the attack.

Met Police announce that terror perpetrator Khalid Masood was born Adrian Russell

A review by Mr Hill’s predecessor found that neither MI5 nor the police had any reason the anticipate the attack, concluding that Masood was “a long way from the top of anyone’s grid”.

The 52-year-old Muslim convert was shot dead after killing five pedestrians on Westminster Bridge with his car and stabbing PC Keith Palmer to death outside Parliament.

The rampage on 22 March 2017 lasted just 82 seconds but left 29 other victims injured, becoming the first terror attack claimed by Isis in the UK.

A report into the ensuing police investigation said counter-terror officers launched a “fast-moving” probe that initially relied on just the items found in the crashed hire car.

Masood’s phone was locked but notifications showed the content of recent messages, while financial information revealed that he had stayed at a hotel in Brighton on the previous night.

The premises were searched, as was a hostel in Birmingham and the homes of friends and relatives in the city and London.

Police arrested 12 people in total – eight men and four women aged between 20 and 58 – but all were later released without charge.

The sweep contributed to a record number of terror arrests recorded in the UK last year, when the Westminster attack was the first of five atrocities to strike London and Manchester.

Mr Hill found “no major fault” with the investigation but made four recommendations for police to improve practices.

“I considered very hard the fact that 12 people were arrested and detained but none were charged, but I reached the conclusion that this was an efficient investigation, and a reasoned and proportionate use of the relevant terrorism legislation,” he told The Independent.