THE family of London Bridge terrorist Khuram Butt have condemned the attack saying they are “shocked and appalled” by his actions.
Butt, 27, was one of three men who killed eight people, and injured dozens more last Saturday, mowing down pedestrians with a van before stabbing others. In a statement, his family said: “As a family we are shocked and appalled by the actions of Khuram and his associates.
“We strongly condemn these actions. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families at this time.
“Now more than ever we need to work together to stop the actions of the mindless few who claim to be acting in the name of Islam.”
The family’s words add to a chorus of condemnation from the relatives of the murderous trio, as the fall-out from the atrocity continued.
All of those known to have died in the attack have now been identified.
The death toll reached eight after a body was recovered from the River Thames near Limehouse on Tuesday evening. French tourist Xavier Thomas, 45, is thought to have been struck by the terrorists’ van on the bridge. Ten further victims remain in critical condition.
The former partner of another of the terrorists, Rachid Redouane, earlier spoke of her shock at discovering he had inflicted the outrage on the capital. Charisse O’Leary said she has “shed many tears for the people caught up in this horrific incident”.
In a statement she said her “heartfelt thoughts go out to all those murdered or injured” in the events of Saturday night.
She added: “I am deeply shocked, saddened and numbed by the actions of my ex-partner who has killed and injured so many innocent people.”
O’Leary said she had been separated from Redouane for six months. She went on: “We have a beautiful young daughter, who, for the last six months, has been our only bond and reason for contact.
“My thoughts and efforts now are with trying to bring up my daughter with the knowledge that some day I will have to try to explain to her why her father did what he did.
“I wish to make it absolutely clear, so there can be no doubt, I condemn his actions and do not support the beliefs he held that led to him committing this atrocity.”
Meanwhile, controversy over the UK’s counter-terror efforts spread to border security after claims emerged that another of the perpetrators was let into the country despite being on a security watch list.
Youssef Zaghba is said to have been stopped by Italian officers as he tried to travel to Syria last year. Prosec- utors in Italy say there was not enough evidence to arrest or charge the 22-year-old when he was intercepted at Bologna airport.
However, unconfirmed reports suggest he was placed on the Schengen Information System, a vast database of alerts about individuals and objects of interest to EU law enforcement agencies. It contains information on thousands of people wanted under the European arrest warrant scheme, as well as suspected foreign fighters. Alerts are made available in the UK through the police national computer and to Border Force officers at immigration controls.
Authorities are facing pressure to detail whether an alert was flagged about Zaghba when he came into the UK and whether he was stopped at the border. The Home Office has not commented as there is an ongoing police investigation, while Scotland Yard has said Zaghba, who lived in east London, was not a police or MI5 subject of interest.
Questions over the extent to which the gang were known to security services have mounted since it emerged Butt was investigated in 2015.
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