London police rule out terrorism after mosque stabbing leaves 'muazzin' wounded

LONDON: British police were not treating as terrorism a mosque stabbing in which an elderly man suffered non-life threatening injuries, they said in a statement issued Thursday, adding that the suspect had been arrested.

"The incident is not being treated as terror-related at this time," London police said in a statement.

The 29-year-old suspect was "believed to have been attending prayers" and was "arrested inside the mosque on suspicion of attempted murder", they added.

Police added that the injured man, in his 70s, was taken to the hospital and his condition was "non life-threatening".

The man wounded in the attack in central London was reportedly the Regents Park Mosque's muazzin — a religious leader who calls the faithful to prayer — who was stabbed in the neck, according to a witness who posted photos from the incident on social media.

The photos, posted by Twitter user @MurshHabib, showed a white man in a red red top being pinned to the ground and handcuffed by two police officers. A group of male worshippers in their winter overcoats could be seen standing nearby and watching the scene.

The London Ambulance Service said they had "sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a car and an advanced paramedic practitioner".

"We treated a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre," it added.

—Additional input from AFP