A British government source said that a 25-year-old man named Ali Harbi is the suspect in the stabbing murder of Conservative Party MP David Amis.

The source said that Harbi was known to those responsible for the government's "prevention of extremism" program.

For its part, British police said late Saturday that investigators have until next Friday, October 22, to question the suspect arrested under the "Terrorism Act", which allowed them to extend his detention.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said it had received confirmation from officials that the young man was named Ali Harbi.

She pointed out that Ali - a British citizen of Somali origin - was referred a few years ago to the "Prevent" program designed for people who are believed to be "at risk of extremism".

It is believed that Ali did not spend much time on the volunteer program and was never formally "of interest" to the Homeland Security Agency (MI5), according to the BBC.

act alone

The Sunday Times said police and security services believe the attacker acted alone and "self-radicalised" and that he may have been inspired by the Al-Qaeda-linked Somali Mujahideen Youth Movement.

The father of the young man - Harbi Ali Klan, a former adviser to the Somali prime minister - confirmed in an interview with the Sunday Times that his son is being held, and said, "I am very shocked."

Police said they had conducted searches at 3 addresses in the London area.

British Conservative MP David Amis, 69, died last Friday of stab wounds he received while he was meeting with his constituents in a church in Lee-on-Sea, about 60 km east of London.

Boris Johnson (left) with a delegation of ministers and politicians visiting the scene of the accident (European)

The newspaper "The Sun" (The Sun) that the attacker stabbed Representative Ames several times in front of the eyes of two women, before sitting and waiting for the police to arrive.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the police described the murder as a "terrorist act", and announced that the anti-terror police were conducting the investigation.

For its part, the British government ordered a review of protection measures for parliamentarians after this incident, and Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the crime scene yesterday, Saturday, with the leader of the opposition Labor Party Keir Starmer, and laid two wreaths.

The residents of the area, including members of the Muslim community, also placed bouquets of flowers near the crime scene.

This killing is reminiscent of the shocking assassination of parliamentarian Jo Cox in June 2016.

The 41-year-old Labor MP was stabbed by far-right extremist Thomas Mayer, 53, a week before the Brexit referendum.