London attacker's wife speaks: 'I totally condemn his actions'

LONDON — The wife and mother of the terrorist who killed four people in a rampage near Britain's Parliament last week condemned the attack Tuesday.

Rohey Hydara, the widow of Khalid Masood, and Janet Ajao, his mother, spoke of their shock at his actions in separate statements.

Masood, 52, a father of three, was previously known by names including Adrian Russell Ajao. He changed his name to Khalid Masood in 2005.

Masood drove his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, before leaping out and fatally stabbing a policeman near Parliament. Masood was shot dead by police.

"I am saddened and shocked by what Khalid has done. I totally condemn his actions,” Hydara said in a statement released to the Press Association news agency by the Metropolitan Police. “I express my condolences to the families of the victims who have died, and wish a speedy recovery to all the injured. I would like to request privacy for our family, especially the children, at this difficult time."

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Hydara’s statement came after Masood’s mother said she had “shed many tears for the people caught up in this horrendous incident.”

“I am so deeply shocked, saddened and numbed by the actions my son has taken that have killed and injured innocent people in Westminster,” she said in a statement released by Dyfed-Powys Police in Wales, where she lives.

“I wish to make it absolutely clear, so there can be no doubt, I do not condone his actions nor support the beliefs he held that led to him committing this atrocity.”

Inquests into the deaths of Masood and the victims of the attack will open this week.

The Islamic State said Masood was a “soldier” of the militant group.

But police found no evidence of an association with the Islamic State or al-Qaeda, although Masood clearly had "an interest in Jihad,” said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu of the Metropolitan Police,

Basu also said there was no evidence Masood was radicalized in prison in 2003, a matter of speculated by some British media. Masood had served jail time for grievous bodily harm, assault and possession of a weapon.