Al-Bashar critic Arwani killed in London

LONDON, April 8 (UPI) -- Abdul Hadi Arwani, a cleric and fierce critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was found shot to death in London.

The Syrian-born Arwani, former imam of London's An-noor Mosque, was found sitting in his car with gunshot wounds to his chest, police said Wednesday.

He was known in British Islamic circles as a respected marriage counselor and for having an intense hatred of the Assad regime. At 16 in 1982, he witnessed a massacre in Hama, Syria, ordered by Assad's father, Hafez, an experience that shaped his political outlook, and he claimed he fled Syria after he received a death sentence for photographing the aftermath of the carnage. His family left Syria to Britain shortly afterward.

On social media, some of Arwani's followers suggested his political outspokenness led to his death, although a former student of his, Moseen Khalid, said, "He was very much against the Assad regime." "I don't know if there is any truth to (the suspicions surrounding his death), it seems to me a bit far-fetched," he added. Another social media post noted, "It seems like the entire community is in a state of mourning."

London Police announced an investigation into Arwani's death has begun.