LONDON -- British spies intercepted the phone calls of foreign politicians and delegates at the G-20 summit in 2009, according to documents provided to The Guardian by self-declared NSA leaker Edward Snowden, the newspaper reported Monday.

U.K. intelligence agency GCHQ also monitored the computers of delegates at the London conference and tried to capture their passwords, the newspaper said.

Among the foreign politicians targeted were then-President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, and Turkish finance minister, Mehmet Simsek, the newspaper said.

The report came hours before President Barack Obama and other world leaders from the G-8 countries - all of which are in the G-20 – were due to attend a two-day summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

Although espionage at international conferences has often been rumored, it is rare for evidence to be uncovered, The Guardian said.

It said the evidence was contained in classified documents shown to its reporters by Snowden, a U.S. citizen who worked for a private defense contractor and now faces a federal investigation into a string of embarrassing leaks about the National Security Agency and the PRISM surveillance program.

Snowden is reportedly in Hong Kong, where he told The Guardian that he was hoping to fight the U.S. government in the courts.

A spokesman for Britain’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the report. A spokesman for GCHQ said the agency never commented on intelligence matters.

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This story was originally published on Mon Jun 17, 2013 8:29 AM EDT

Neil Hall/Reuters

Police officers detain a protester demonstrating against the upcoming G8 summit in central London on Tuesday.

LONDON — British riot police clashed with anti-capitalist protesters in running confrontations through the streets of central London on Tuesday, arresting at least 32 people as activists targeted some of the world's biggest companies before next week's G8 summit.

About 100 protesters gathered outside oil company BP Plc's headquarters, while others chanted "war criminals" at the office of U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin Corp. and booed outside the offices of U.S.-based bank Citi.

In a roof-top drama caught on camera, one protester lunged towards officers on the top of a four-storey building where activists had been holed up and was wrestled to the ground by police wearing abseiling ropes just inches from the roof's unprotected edge.

Police used chainsaws to break into the block in the Soho district where the StopG8 protest group had been staying before a "Carnival Against Capitalism" to coincide with the June 17-18 G8 meeting at a golf resort in Northern Ireland.

Several hundred protesters - who had threatened to target major hedge funds, banks and natural resources companies - played cat and mouse with riot police sowing hours of traffic chaos in some of London's most fashionable streets.

Around 100 protesters gathered outside a central London police station this evening shaking fists and shouting "let them go" and "@!$%# the police", referring to activists detained earlier, blaring loud and angry hip hop music.

"The G8 is just a front for the corporatocracy, for the kleptocrats. It is about making them more money and dividing up the world so they can all get richer," said a protester at Piccadilly Circus who gave his name only as Silver Fox.

"The G8 should be about ending all the wars - why don't they give peace a chance for once?"

Police chased groups of shouting protesters down Oxford Street and Regent Street, one of London's main shopping areas, to the visible shock of tourists before heading past the U.S. embassy in Mayfair, one of the capital's most exclusive areas.

Nearly 1,200 police were mobilized to deal with the protests. Police said they had arrested 32 people for offences including criminal damage, assault on police and possession of an offensive weapon.

'RETAKING THE STREETS'

Activists, some with their faces covered, waved black, green and red flags as they marched down Oxford Street. They carried banners saying "No borders, no prisons, no capitalism" and "One Common Struggle."

Isolated scuffles broke out when police moved in to arrest individuals as a group of activists banged on drums and blew whistles beside snarled traffic.

"We are retaking the streets. We want to make a statement that capitalism is screwing the majority of people," said protester Emma Goldman. "If we were in (Turkey's) Taksim Square people would say we were anti-government protesters. Here they probably call us a mob."

British Prime Minister David Cameron has set boosting trade, ensuring tax compliance and greater corporate transparency in developing countries as his priorities for the G8 summit.

But protesters on the streets said they felt the summit, where Cameron will welcome leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin, was about dividing up wealth and had become a hostage to corporate interests.

StopG8 last month issued a map of 100 potential targets for people to "show their anger," identifying offices of financial organizations such as banks, hedge funds, defense manufacturer BAE Systems and mining and energy companies including ArcelorMittal and BP.

The list includes hedge funds Man Group and Paulson, private equity firm Blackstone, banks such as Citi and Barclays and embassies including those of Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The group, which describes itself as an anti-capitalist network "made up of autonomous groups and individuals," had refused to cooperate with police.

One banker working for an international firm with offices in central London said the staff had received an email indicating around 500 people would attend the protest.

One hedge fund, which asked not to be identified, said it had advised its staff to be especially alert to the protests.

Recent demonstrations against the British government's austerity measures have been marred by rioting anarchists. Many Britons angered by bank bailouts and bonuses during tough economic times blame the financial sector.

Britain's last major riots took place in 2011 when thousands brought chaos to the center of the capital and several cities in a display of looting and anger initially provoked by the shooting by police of a man in north London.

Grant Falvey / Zuma Press

The fire broke out early Sunday at the Darul Uloom Islamic boarding school in Southeast London, UK.

LONDON -- British police arrested four teenagers late Sunday on suspicion of setting fire to an Islamic school amid fears of anti-Muslim attacks in retribution for the brutal killing of a soldier last month.

The Metropolitan Police said four males, two aged 18 and two aged 17, were being held at a South London police station. Police presence was being increased "around locations that might be at risk," police said.

The fire occurred late Saturday night at the Darul Uloom Islamic High School & College in Southeast London and was quickly extinguished, police said. There were minor damages to the building, which was briefly evacuated.

The incident follows another suspected arson attack at an Islamic center in North London on Wednesday. In that attack, the letters "EDL" -- the far-right group English Defence League -- were found written on the building, but the organization said it was not involved in the fire.

"We should not allow the murder of Lee Rigby to come between Londoners," Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said in a statement. "The unified response we have seen to his death across all communities will triumph over those who seek to divide us." 

Rigby, 25, was killed in broad daylight outside an army barracks in South London on May 22. His death is is being treated as a terror attack because eyewitness accounts and video evidence suggest it was carried out in protest of Western military involvement in Muslim countries.

The gory murder has raised fears of reprisal attacks against Muslims.

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• Slain London soldier was 'loving father' who served in Afghanistan

Luke MacGregor / Reuters

English Defence League demonstrators protest near a government building after the recent killing of British soldier Lee Rigby in London, May 27.

LONDON -- Counterterrorism specialists are investigating whether a fire at a London community center used by Islamic groups was linked to anti-Muslim protesters, police said Wednesday - two weeks after the murder of a soldier.

The letters “EDL” – the initials of far-right organization, English Defence League – were found daubed on the burned building, police said. The blaze is being treated as "suspicious" by detectives.

The EDL, which describes itself as a “struggle against Islamic intolerance,” staged a number of public demonstrations in the wake of the death of Lee Rigby, 25, who was slain as he walked near a military barracks in Woolwich, southeast London.

The May 22 killing is being treated as a terror attack because eyewitness accounts and video evidence suggest it was carried out in protest of Western military involvement in Muslim countries.

Masked EDL members were involved in clashes with police on the night of Rigby’s killing.

The community center, which was being used by groups including the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association, was extensively damaged by the blaze in the early hours of Wednesday.

One woman was treated for injuries, police said.

Abubakar Ali, spokesman for one of the Somali community groups that used the center, said: “The Somali community is living in fear. We are appalled and deeply saddened by this foolish and horrific act against a peaceful community. 

“We urge everyone to remain calm and let the police and firefighters do their job.

"We condemn all violence, just as we condemned the murder of Lee Rigby. We sent our condolences to the soldier’s family.”

London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, described the fire as “cowardly.”

“There is no place in an open, tolerant and diverse city like London for hate, for prejudice, for violence,” he said, according to ITV News.

"London is a city built on the strength of its communities. Londoners will see this for what it is -- cowardly, pathetic and utterly pointless."

Officers searched the surrounding area for forensic clues Wednesday, ITV News reported.

“Police have started consulting and will work closely with the Somali and Islamic communities to provide support and reassurance,” London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement.

“Specialist officers from the Met’s Counter-Terrorism Command are leading the investigation,” it said.

Added Johnson: "I would urge people to give the police the time and space to investigate this incident fully. I have no doubt the Met will bring those responsible to justice."

Tommy Robinson, leader of the EDL, did not comment on any link to the fire but posted on Twitter that he was “skeptical.” He also told the U.K.’s Sky News that previous attacks linked to the EDL had later been found to be carried out by others.

This story was originally published on Wed Jun 5, 2013 12:04 PM EDT

LONDON -- One of two men charged with murdering a British soldier on a busy London street appeared in court for the first time on Monday, blowing kisses to a supporter in the public gallery and clutching what appeared to be a Quran.

Michael Adebolajo, 28, was remanded in custody until a hearing within the next 48 hours to decide whether he can be released on bail.

Adebolajo, who was shot by police along with another man at the scene of the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court with his left arm wrapped in bandages.

Flanked by three guards behind glass panels in the dock, Adebolajo asked to be identified by a different name, Mujahid Abu Hamza. His defense lawyer David Gottlieb and deputy chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot referred to him as Abu Hamza during the hearing.

Adebolajo repeatedly interrupted proceedings, asking why he had to stand up and questioning the charges after they were read to him.

"May I respond, may I respond?" he asked several times during the five-minute hearing. He did not enter a plea and the magistrate said a further hearing would take place at the Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, on June 28.

Adebolajo, wearing a white T-shirt and white trousers, gave a thumbs-up sign to his defense lawyer and blew kisses to a man in the public gallery, appearing to mouth the words "I love you." The man declined to comment outside court.

At the end of the hearing, Adebolajo stretched out his arms, pointed them to the sky and then kissed the book he was holding.

"I would like to alleviate the pain if I may," he told the court before being led from the dock.

The British-born son of Nigerian parents is charged with murder, the attempted murder of two police officers and possession of a firearm with intent.

A second suspect, Michael Adebowale, 22, was also remanded in custody to June 28 when he appeared by videolink at the Old Bailey for a bail hearing. He is also charged with murder and possession of a firearm with intent.

Rigby, 25, died at the scene of the attack, which took place in broad daylight near an army barracks on May 22. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as "multiple incised wounds."

In a statement to parliament on Rigby's death, Prime Minister David Cameron said lessons would be learned from Woolwich and that more should be done to discourage radicalization over the Internet, in universities and prisons.

"It is as if, for some young people, there is a conveyor belt to radicalization that has poisoned their minds with sick and perverted ideas. We need to dismantle this process at every stage," he said after chairing the first meeting of a new panel of senior ministers aiming to tackle extremism.

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Andy Rain / EPA

A police van carrying Michael Adebowale arrives at the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday.

LONDON - A man appeared in court Thursday, accused of the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby on a street last week.

Michael Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich was charged late Wednesday with the May 22 murder.

Adebowale spoke only to confirm his identity as he appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, according to NBC News’ British partner ITV News.

He was limping as he was led into court, and was allowed to sit by the magistrate, ITV News said.

The case was sent for trial at the Old Bailey - England's highest criminal court - by chief magistrate Howard Riddle. However, Adebowale will appear in court again on Monday for a bail hearing.

A second suspect in the case remains in hospital.

Lee Rigby, 25, a drummer in the 2^nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was murdered as he walked near a military barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, last week.

He left behind a wife and a 2-year-old son. He was a native of Manchester, UK, who joined the military in 2006.

The UK Ministry of Defense said Rigby had served in Afghanistan in 2009 and had helped guard UK royal palaces. It described him as “a loving father” and “an extremely popular and witty soldier.”

Three more men were arrested Saturday in the investigation into the killing of a British soldier in London, police said.

Lee Rigby, 25, known as “Riggers” to his friends, was walking near an army barracks in Woolwich, South London, when he was killed on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses said two attackers were later shot by officers. Those two men were taken to a hospital where they were later arrested.

The three men arrested Saturday are in custody on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, police said.

Two men, aged 24 and 28 were arrested at a residential address in southeast London, the police statement read. A 21-year-old man was arrested in the street.

A 29-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder on Thursday has been released on bail to return pending further inquiries, police said.

Rigby was killed by knife-wielding assailants. A bloodstained suspect at the scene holding a meat cleaver was captured on video telling passers-by: "We swear by the almighty Allah."

Police are also executing search warrants at four residential addresses in southeast London, the statement released Saturday read.

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Justin Tallis / AFP - Getty Images

A woman reacts as she looks at floral tributes left at the scene where Lee Rigby was killed outside Woolwich Barracks in London on May 24.

LONDON – The horrific public slaying of a soldier in London, five weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings, illustrates the possible emergence of a new terror trend towards unsophisticated attacks that are practically impossible to prevent, intelligence experts warned.

Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old father who had served in Afghanistan, was killed in broad daylight Wednesday as he walked near an army barracks in Woolwich, southeast London.

Eyewitness reports suggest the killing was ideologically motivated, carried out in protest at British military actions in Muslim countries, based on what the alleged attackers were heard to say.

And although London is no stranger to terrorism – dozens of civilians and soldiers have been killed by Irish republican bomb blasts over the past four decades – it is still coming to terms with the latest threat: isolated, uncoordinated attacks.

“I think what we've seen in London, and Boston previously, is largely the new face of al Qaeda-inspired attacks,” said NBC News counter-terrorism analyst, Michael Leiter.

“These are no longer the large scale sophisticated plots from overseas but instead very unsophisticated and simple attacks which can still very much affect the psyche of cities.”

Most chillingly, Leiter believes such actions by “lone wolves” are harder to thwart than planned attacks directed by overseas terror organizations whose activities are monitored by intelligence agencies.

“These are some of the most difficult attacks to stop,” he said. “In London and the United Kingdom you have incredibly capable security forces; but when two individuals do this with potentially no other connections, to stop them when they're using things like knives and cleavers makes this almost impossible to stop beforehand.”

Underlining his point, security sources say both the suspects in this week’s attack were known to intelligence agencies. It is not known if they were deemed to be a low risk.

A key similarity between this week’s attack and the Boston bombings was the possibility that the suspected perpetrators picked up their techniques from al Qaeda publications on the Internet, according to Ed Campbell, home affairs editor at NBC’s U.K. partner ITV News, which obtained exclusive pictures of the aftermath of the attack.

“Its emphasis is on DIY attacks which involve low-tech methods and no contact with an al Qaeda hierarchy because that gives the security forces a lead,” said Campbell.

The machete killing was not the very first incident of its kind. In 2010, a young Bangladeshi Muslim, Roshonara Choudhry, tried to stab a London lawmaker to death with a knife to avenge his support for the war in Iraq. She was jailed for life.

And in 2008, four British Muslims admitted their role in a plot to kidnap and behead a British soldier, and record the execution on camera for use as jihadist propaganda.

Raffaello Pantucci, Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said Wednesday’s attack displayed “a level of brutality, I think, we haven’t seen quite yet.”

 “It certainly looks like a terror incident of a trend we have increasing seen recently - small groups of individuals who decide to carry out actions for their own reasons… who decide to choose their targets.”

The two suspects, aged 22 and 28, are under guard in hospitals after being shot and arrested by police following the murder of Rigby on Wednesday in broad daylight. They have not yet been charged.

Detectives were also questioning another man and a woman, arrested on Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, as they tried to determine whether those responsible had links to militants in Britain or overseas.

"This is a large, complex and fast-moving investigation which continues to develop," police said in a statement, Friday. "Many lines of inquiry are being followed by detectives, and the investigation is progressing well.”

What is not yet clear is how and where the London suspects were radicalized. Although media reports in London said the two were of Nigerian descent, it is not known if there is any link to the Islamic terror groups that have plagued Nigeria in recent years.

The FBI is investigating whether one of the Boston bomb suspects was radicalized during a 2012 trip to his homeland, the Russian republic of Dagestan.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction for the April 15 bombing that killed three and wounded 176 in Boston and could face the death penalty.

The suspect's older brother and accused accomplice, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a firefight with police, and investigators are trying to determine if anyone else was involved.

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LONDON -- The wife of a British soldier brutally murdered in broad daylight in London said on Friday that she thought he was safe in England after returning from active duty in Afghanistan.

Several of Drummer Lee Rigby’s relatives made an emotional, tear-strewn appearance at a news conference Friday, as dramatic video footage emerged showing the moments that police shot two men later arrested over the killing.

Rigby, 25, known as “Riggers” to his friends, was walking near an army barracks in Woolwich, South London, when he was killed on Wednesday.

At the news conference Friday, his father Ian, who did most of the talking as the others mostly appeared too upset to speak, said his son was a “hero” and “didn’t deserve this.”

Rigby’s wife, Rebecca, 30, spoke briefly and was clearly struggling to do so.

“I just want to say that I love Lee. I always will and I’m proud to be his wife,” she said.

“He was due to come up this weekend, so we could continue our future together as a family. He was a devoted father to our son Jack and we’ll both miss him terribly,” she added.

Later, she spoke of her shock at his death in England.

“You don’t expect it to happen when he’s in the U.K. You think they’re safe,” she said. “You know it’s dangerous when they go somewhere like that [Afghanistan] … he’s walked up and down that road so many times before.”

The new video footage was published by the Mirror newspaper, which it said showed the moments when police officers shot the two alleged attackers. It contains scenes that people may find disturbing.

In the video, shot from high above the scene, a man is seen running toward a police car, dropping something that looks like a knife. Two shots are heard and he falls to the ground.

Another man, not clearly visible beneath the trees, appears to hold out his arm toward the officers with something in his hand. A burst of three shots and then another are heard and he also falls to the ground. There are then two further shots.

Separate video footage taken before the police arrived showed a passerby talking to one of the men, who was carrying a large knife and whose hands were covered in blood. The passerby, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, said she also saw a gun.

The two men were taken to hospitals in London for treatment and were later arrested.

At the family news conference, Ian Rigby said that when his son was born, he was “a precious gift” to the family.

“What can we say about Lee, our hero, we’re so proud of Lee,” his father said, struggling to compose himself.

He said Lee had a “fiery temper” when he was younger and he used to sit on his son while trying to calm him down, but when he got too big at about 15 “he used to sit on me.”

Ian Rigby said it had been his son’s dream when he was growing up to join the army.

“He was dedicated and loved his job. Lee adored and cared a lot for all his family and he was very much a family man, looking out for his wife, his young son Jack and his younger sisters, who in turn looked up to him,” he said. “He always had a banter [teasing and joking] with them, but would never ever let any harm come to them.”

The slain soldier had been “over the moon” at becoming a father and an uncle, his father said.

“Lee was a man who loved people. He had many friends growing up in Middleton [Greater Manchester] and on army duties all over the world, where he’d been sent,” he added. “He believed life was for living and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

A statement by his sisters – read by Ian Rigby – said “rest in peace Lee, we loved you so much and you didn’t deserve this.”

“You fought for your country and did it well. You will always be our hero. We’re just upset you left us so early,” the statement added.

Ian Rigby read the last text that Lee Rigby had sent to his mother.

“Good night mam [mother], I hope you had a fantastic day today because you are the most fantastic, one-in-a-million mum that anyone could ever have wished for. Thank you for supporting me all these years. You’re not just my mum, you’re my best friend.”

He also read a poem for his son, that included the lines:

“Our family chain is broken,

And nothing is the same,

But as God takes us one by one,

Our chain will link again.”

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Ministry of Defence

Drummer Lee Rigby was identified Thursday as the soldier killed in London in a suspected terror attack on Wednesday.

The British soldier brutally killed in London in a suspected terror attack was a drummer in a military band who had served in Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday.

Lee Rigby, 25, known as “Riggers” to his friends, was killed in broad daylight on Wednesday as he walked in Woolwich, South London, near an army barracks.

In a statement, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Rigby, who served with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was “a loving father” to his two-year-old son Jack.

“An extremely popular and witty soldier, Drummer Rigby was a larger than life personality within the Corps of Drums and was well known, liked and respected across the Second Fusiliers,” the statement said.

“He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. The Regiment’s thoughts and prayers are with his family during this extremely difficult time,” it added. “Once a Fusilier, always a Fusilier.”

The statement said Rigby was born in Manchester, England and had joined the army in 2006.

It said he had been deployed on operation in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in April 2009, “where he served as a member of the Fire Support Group in Patrol Base Woqab.”

Rigby had previously helped guard the U.K.’s royal palaces. “He was an integral member of the Corps of Drums throughout the Battalion’s time on public duties, the highlight of which was being a part of the Household Division’s Beating the Retreat - a real honour for a line infantry Corps of Drums,” the statement said.

He had also served with his unit in Cyprus and Germany. In 2011, Rigby began a recruiting post in London and assisted with duties at the Tower of London.

The commanding officer of the Second Fusiliers, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Taylor, said Rigby was “a dedicated and professional soldier.”

“Larger than life, he was at the heart of our Corps of Drums. An experienced and talented side drummer and machine gunner, he was a true warrior and served with distinction in Afghanistan, Germany and Cyprus,” he said.

His platoon commander from 2010 to 2011, Captain Alan Williamson said “Riggers” was a “cheeky and humorous man, always there with a joke to brighten the mood.”

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LONDON - A mother-of-two who confronted a blood-soaked, knife-carrying man in the moments after what is suspected to be the ideologically motivated murder of a British soldier said she wanted to protect onlookers.

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, jumped off the bus she was riding in southeast London Wednesday when she saw the man slumped on the sidewalk next to a crashed car.

British police said on Thursday that officers from London’s counter-terrorism unit were heading up the investigation. Eyewitness reports suggest the killing may have been carried out as a protest against British military actions in Muslim countries based on what they say they heard from the alleged attackers.

Loyau-Kennett had intended to offer first aid, but instead found herself standing in the aftermath of the horrific killing of a soldier in broad daylight in Woolwich, London.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence named the victim as Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old drummer with the Second Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers who was father of a two-year-old boy. and who had served in Afghanistan. Floral tributes were laid outside the military barracks near the scene.

“I saw a man on the road obviously injured and a car badly crashed," she told U.K. channel ITV on Thursday. "So I assumed it was a road accident."

However, she says when she got closer she saw a man covered in blood and carrying a butcher's knife. She also says she saw a handgun.

"I thought 'what the heck has happened there?'" she said.

“He was obviously a bit excited and the thing was to talk to him,” Loyau-Kennett said, adding that her instinct was to keep the suspected attacker calm in order to protect the crowd that was beginning to gather.  

ITV News

A suspect, left, talks to the camera immediately after Wednesday's attack.

Pictures at the scene show her, hands in pockets, speaking apparently calmly to a man holding a long knife.

Loyau-Kennett, from Cornwall, England, found it “daunting” to continue to engage the blood-soaked man as more bystanders appeared, in particular mothers with their children.

“There were more and more mothers with children coming by so it was more and more important that I talk to him,” she said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to her Thursday, saying she was "brave" as he pledged that U.K. investigators "will not rest until we know every single detail of what happened and we've brought all of those responsible to justice."

Speaking on the steps of 10 Downing Street, he said: "This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror. We will never give in to terror."

"One of the best ways of defeating terrorism is to go about our normal lives. And that is what we shall all do."

A second alleged attacker, his hands covered in blood and holding a meat cleaver, was captured on video -- obtained exclusively by NBC News's U.K. news partner, ITV News -- telling passers-by: "By Allah we swear by the almighty Allah and we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone."

Eyewitnesses described the victim of the attack as being chopped up like a "piece of meat."

The witnesses said two men were later shot by officers. The injured duo were taken to a hospital where they were later arrested in connection with the case.

NBC News understands the two suspects have been investigated by British security services in the past.

Two further arrests were made Thursday, Britain's Counter Terrorism Command announced. A 29-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were taken into custody on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. 

The Muslim Council of Great Britain on Wednesday condemned the attack, which it said would "heighten tensions on the streets of the United Kingdom."

"This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly," it said. "Our thoughts are with the victim and his family."

Those tensions were underlined late Wednesday when a small number of members of the anti-immigrant English Defence League extremist group were involved in minor scuffles with police in Woolwich.

In his statement to reporters on Thursday, Cameron said: "This was not just an attack on Britain - and on our British way of life - it was also a betrayal of Islam - and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country. There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act."

However, on its English-language media Twitter feed, al Qaeda-linked Africa terror group al-Shabab said: "What Cameron describes as a sickening attack is what innocent Muslim woman and children are subjected to every day by British troops."

London Mayor Boris Johnson said it was "completely wrong" to blame the killing on Islam, saying the fault lies with the "warped and deluded" mindset of the people responsible. He said it was "equally wrong" to try to draw any link between the incident and British foreign policy.

He also called on the Londoners to send a message of defiance by carrying on "as normal" in the wake of the horrific attack.

Johnson was speaking to reporters after cycling to a meeting of the British government's emergency response committee, Cobra.

President Obama released a statement on the attack Thursday, condemning it "in the strongest terms."

"The United States stands resolute with the United Kingdom, our ally and friend, against violent extremism and terror.  There can be absolutely no justification for such acts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim, the police and security services responding to this horrific act and the communities they serve, and the British people," the president said in the statement.

"Our special relationship with the United Kingdom is especially important during times of trial."

NBC News' Keir Simmons and Rohit Kachroo and ITV News' Darren Burn contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 7:23 AM EDT