A man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder a Syrian-born preacher found shot dead in his car in Wembley.

Brent & Kilburn Times: This is the car Mr Arwani was discovered inThis is the car Mr Arwani was discovered in (Image: Archant)

Abdul-Hadi Arwani, a critic of the Assad regime, was found dead in a parked car in Greenhill, at the junction of The Paddocks, on Tuesday morning.

Counter-terrorism detectives have taken over responsibility for the investigation into the death of the father-of-six, a former imam at the An Noor mosque in Acton, west London, from 2005 to 2011.

Brent & Kilburn Times: This is the car Mr Arwani was discovered inThis is the car Mr Arwani was discovered in (Image: Archant)

The 46-year-old man was arrested last night in Brent, and is in custody at a central London police station.

Investigating officers have established that Mr Arwani had driven near to the scene around mid-morning on Sunday, 5 April 2015, and had been parked up in Havenwood where he had remained for a short while.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who saw the dark coloured VW Passat in the area to come forward.

Mr Arwani’s son, Murhaf Arwani, has appealed for people to help the police in their investigation.

He said: “The police are currently investigating this brutal murder. As an individual, a family and a community, we are helping the police to solve this heinous crime. Any information we have has, and will be passed on to them and we urge anyone with any information to please, please, please do the same.

“To members of the public that knew my late father and even those of you who didn’t know him, please tell us what you know.

“We know that it won’t bring our father back to us but it may help to deliver justice to those who killed him.”

A post-mortem examination gave Mr Arwani’s cause of death as gun shot wounds.

Anyone with information should contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.