UK attacker was Muslim convert

London, March 24 

The man who launched a terror attack on UK Parliament has been identified by the police as 52-year-old former convict Adrian Russell Ajao who acquired the name Khalid Masood upon conversion to Islam.

Scotland Yard Acting Deputy Commissioner and Counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley today revealed that the “fast-paced” counter-terrorism operation to establish Masood's “motivation, preparation and his associates” has been titled ‘Operation Classific.

“The operation continues, involving hundreds of officers from across the counterterrorism network… we named the dead terrorist as Khalid Masood — we stated he had a number of aliases — we now know his birth name was Adrian Russell Ajao,” he said.

He appealed to the public to come up with any information they have about Khalid Masood to help in the probe.

The appeal came as a picture emerges of an English schoolboy, born to a white mother and black father, with a history of violent knife crime.

In July 2000, he slashed a man across the face after an argument that the court at the time was told "racial overtones".

Hove Crown Court also heard during the trial that the attack had left Masood and his young family "ostracised" in the village of Northiam in Sussex, south-east England. — PTI