Murdered preacher Abdul Hadi Arwani ( above ) was killed by a hitman who climbed into the back of his car , it emerged last night . Murdered preacher Abdul Hadi Arwani was killed by a hitman who climbed into the back of his car , it emerged last night . The Syrian-born 48-year-old was lured to an upmarket street in London on the pretence of providing a quote for some building work . But when the imam arrived , the killer got into the rear seat of his Volkswagen Passat and shot him several times . The murder at 11.15am on Tuesday bears all the hallmarks of a professional assassination because the gunman was thought to have used a silencer and it took place away from CCTV cameras . Scotland Yard counter-terrorism officers are investigating whether Mr Arwani , a fierce critic of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad , was murdered on the orders of the regime . They suspect the part-time builder was tricked into driving to Wembley to quote for a job – but the killer was put off when the imam took his teenage son along and claimed he could not find the keys to the house . He is thought to have been executed when the mystery client – described as having an African accent – asked Mr Arwani to return a second time alone . Shortly after the shooting Mr Arwani 's car was discovered 'perfectly parked ' on the side of the road with the engine still running and with one of the windows wound down . The father-of-six from Acton , west London , had links to the Muslim Brotherhood , an Islamist group outlawed in Syria and other countries in the Middle East . He is understood to have been a member of the organisation until about seven years ago , but retained ties to some of the group 's senior figures . The Syrian-born 48-year-old was lured to an upmarket street in London on the pretence of providing a quote for some building work . Above , two men stand outside the An Noor mosque in Acton , west London , which is near to where Mr Arwani was shot dead on Tuesday . Police cordoned off the murder scene . It is thought that when the imam arrived , the killer got into his Volkswagen Passat . Mr Arwani was a fierce critic of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad , who is pictured above in September 2013 . Mr Arwani fled Syria in 1982 after a massacre in his home city of Hama carried out on the orders of Assad 's father , Hafez . The imam , who moved to Britain in the mid-1990s after studying Islamic law in Jordan , claimed he was sentenced to death in his absence by the Syrian regime . He was involved in violent anti-Assad demonstrations outside the Syrian Embassy in London three years ago . Police were forced to use riot shields to beat back protesters after they broke through barriers , and six people were arrested . Mr Arwani told reporters during the demonstration : 'This building belongs to the Syrian people , not a regime killing people every single day for ten months . ' Detectives are also considering whether the father of six was killed by someone associated with the notorious An Noor mosque in Acton where he was imam from 2005 to 2011 .
Abdul Hadi Arwani found dead in his 'perfectly parked ' car on 1982 . Gunman probably used a silencer and chose an area away from CCTV . Father-of-six from Acton , west London , had links to Muslim Brotherhood .