Abdul Hadi Arwani: One man charged and another arrested over murder of Syrian imam shot dead in London

Leslie Cooper, 36, from Brent, appeared in court on Tuesday

Abdul Hadi Arwani, an imam originally from Syria, was shot dead (Met Police)

A second man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Syrian-born preacher Abdul Hadi Arwani. Counter-terrorism detectives announced that a 61-year-old had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.

News of his arrest came hours after Leslie Cooper, 36, appeared at London’s Camberwell Green magistrate’s court accused of killing the 48-year-old imam on 7 April.

Mr Cooper, from Brent, north London, appeared shaven-headed with a beard, wearing a grey tracksuit and a white T-shirt. He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth during the hearing, which lasted little more than a minute.

Mr Cooper was remanded in custody by district judge Ann Sawetz, to appear at the Old Bailey within the next 48 hours.

Mr Arwani, a critic of the Assad regime in Syria, was an imam at the An Noor mosque in Acton, west London, from 2005 to 2011. He was found dead in a car in the Greenhill area of Wembley last week. A postmortem examination found he died from gunshot wounds. His son Murhaf Arwani said in a statement: “Today, a man stood before a magistrate's court in London charged with the murder of my beloved father, the late Abdulhadi Arwani.

“We would also like to thank the community for the outpouring of support during this extremely difficult time. We are touched to learn how many people my father helped, advised and inspired in his short life.

“If anyone has any additional information that can help with the investigation, we urge you to please come forward and speak to the Metropolitan Police. Your cooperation will help us close this painful page and begin to move on with our lives, in the knowledge that the person who took away our father, will be brought to justice and duly punished for this heinous crime.”

Officers are carrying out searches of addresses across London including the An Noor Cultural and Community Centre. The mosque was closed on Tuesday while counter-terrorism officers conducted searches in consultation with Muslim community leaders.