Who is the bloody, cleaver-wielding man tied to the gory London attack?
Friend of attack suspect speaks to CNN
One was a "nice guy," who was "friendly and very polite" and "just wanted to help everybody."
Then there was the
"crazed ... animal" -- someone who'd brutally hack to death a man in
broad daylight on the streets of London, then tried to justify it and
suggested there was more violence to come.
Two vastly descriptions, for one person: Michael Adebolajo.
While British police have
not named any of the men arrested in connection with Wednesday's gory
slaying of British soldier Lee Rigby, one of them didn't hide his
identity at the time. That man -- toting a meat cleaver and large
kitchen knife in his bloody hands -- sought out a cell phone camera
minutes after the attack to justify what he and another man allegedly
had just done.
"The only reason we
killed this man ... is because Muslims are dying daily," he said in a
video later aired by CNN affiliate ITN. "This British soldier is an eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
He was not done. The man
insisted British people should force their government to remove troops
from "our lands" -- an apparent reference to largely Islamic countries
like Iraq and Afghanistan -- or else they'd see more bloodshed.
"You will never be safe," he said.
Friends, acquaintances
and British media identified the man of this video as Adebolajo. He
hasn't been heard from in public since he made those remarks, as Rigby's
mutilated body lay behind him.
He and the 22-year-old
with him rushed at armed police when they arrived at the site of the
attack on southeast London's Woolwich neighborhood. Both were wounded by
gunfire, and are now under guard in South London hospitals.
Others, though, have
spoken about the 28-year-old Adebolajo -- explaining who he was and, in
some cases, why he allegedly did what he did.
"He was dedicated to
Islam and wanted to put himself at its service and defend it," said one
of his former associates in Al-Muhajiroun, a British group of Islamic
extremists virulently opposed to UK intervention in Iraq and openly
supportive of al Qaeda.
Described as polite, passionate about Islam
A British national of
Nigerian descent, Adebolajo was born into a Catholic family, according
to this former associate. At least a decade ago, he converted to Islam.
The
Guardian newspaper reported that he attended Marshalls Park School, Havering Sixth Form College, then Greenwich University.
A former girlfriend
told the Independent
that Adebolajo was "really friendly and really polite," saying she
didn't detect anything that may suggest he was capable of horrific
violence.
Syrian cleric Omar Bakri
Mohammed, who founded Al-Muhajiroun in the late 1990s, said by phone
from Tripoli, Lebanon, that he was acquainted with the man he knew by
his Muslim name, Mujahid.
Adebolajo had been particularly impressed that Islam was a brotherhood between all races "whites, black and Arabs," Bakri said.
He described him as "quiet and shy" and highly respectful.
Adebolajo had two wives,
whom he married at the same time during a religious ceremony, said the
former associate, who said he was among the attendees. At the time,
Al-Muhajiroun frequently conducted marriage ceremonies for followers who
were not registered with the British government.
Abu Baraa said he's been friends with Adebolajo for seven years.
In that time, Baraa came to know him as a "very caring" man who "just wanted to help everybody."
And Adebolajo, who the
ex-associate said had children, was especially passionate in his faith,
as well as his desire to protect it and his fellow followers.
"He's always been very
vocal and very concerned about the affairs of Muslims and people being
oppressed," Baraa told CNN. "And he could never tolerate anybody
believed to really be oppressed."
Ex-associate: May have been tired of 'no action'
Adebolajo attended
several talks that Bakri Mohammed gave in London from 2003 to 2004, the
radical cleric told CNN. In fact, Bakri Mohammed said Adebolajo was at
his side at a number of /Al-Muhajiroun protests against the war in Iraq
around that time.
One talk Adebolajo
attended was at a community center in Woolwich -- the neighborhood where
Rigby was killed -- recalled Bakri Mohammed, who noted the group met in
such locations because they were not welcomed in mosques.
The vast majority of
British Muslims reject the views of Bakri Mohammed -- who hasn't been
allowed back in the United Kingdom since the 2005 bombings of London's
transit system. His group has been barred since that time as well,
though it's continued to operate under different guises. Its leaders
drum home the idea that the British government is at war with Islam, but
have been careful to cross legal red lines that would implicate them
for inciting terrorism.
Bakri Mohammed said
that, although they did not have many interactions, Adebolajo stood out
because he was a new convert to the religion.
The former associate --
who was himself "born again" into Islam, but has since shed his radical
views -- said that "like all of us, (Adebolajo) had a literal
understanding of Islam."
Even after Bakri Mohammed left England, Adebolajo remained active in Islam circles.
British Muslim radical
leader Anjem Choudary told CNN that he knew Adebolajo, noting the
suspect attended demonstrations and a few lectures organized by
Choudary's group Al-Muhajiroun.
In fact, an ITN video
from April 2007 shows Adebolajo standing behind Choudary at a rally
protesting the arrest of men who allegedly made inflammatory speeches
inside a mosque.
Two or three years ago, Al-Muhajiroun leaders have said that Adebolajo moved away from the group.
The former associate --
who last saw Adebolajo in 2005 -- suspects this break might be related
to this week's attack in Woolwich.
"What tends to happen is
some of the group's members start to see Al-Muhajiroun as all talk and
no action," he said. "So they leave the group, and then they do
something."
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