Man held as terror suspect after incident at UK parliament, now arrested for attempted murder

The man was initially arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after he appeared deliberately to drive his car at cyclists and pedestrians before ramming it into barriers outside the parliament building on Tuesday morning.

A 29-year-old man detained over a suspected terrorist attack outside parliament has been further arrested for attempted murder, police said on Wednesday.

A car plowed into pedestrians and cyclists near the Houses of Parliament in London during the morning rush hour Tuesday, injuring a number of people in what police suspect is the latest in a string of vehicle-based attacks in the British capital. (AP)

He had initially been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after he appeared deliberately to drive his car at cyclists and pedestrians before ramming it into barriers outside the parliament building on Tuesday morning.

Police confirmed media reports that the man is a UK national originally from Sudan. He has been named by a security source as Salih Khater.

“We are satisfied that we know the identity of the arrested man,” police said in a statement. “The priority of the investigation team continues to be to understand the motivation behind this incident.”