UK knife attack suspect was known to security services

A man held on suspicion of stabbing three people to death in a British park at the weekend was known to the security services, media reported yesterday. The 25-year-old, widely identified as Khairi Saadallah, a Libyan refugee, was held on suspicion of murder on Saturday night, soon after the rampage in Reading, west of London. British media said Saadallah fled the civil war in Libya and had been released from prison earlier this month, after serving time for a series of non-terror offences. He briefly came to the attention of the domestic intelligence agency MI5 last year and was said to have planned to travel abroad, reportedly to Syria. His mental health is understood to be a factor for investigating officers.