text: The son of a Syrian imam who was shot dead on a London street may have met his father’s killer just days before the murder. Sources close to the investigation, which is being led by the counter-terrorism unit, told the Sunday Times that Abdul Hadi Arwani, an opponent of Syrian President Bahsar Al-Assad, had visited the area where he was killed with his son days before his death. Arwani, 48, was shot and killed in his car on a quiet street in North West London after being called there last Tuesday, apparently to provide a quote for building work. Scroll down for video . imam, Abdul Hadi Arwani (pictured), was called to a job in the area he was killed days before his death . When the imam, who had links to the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK and abroad, arrived to the house with his son and not on his own, the supposed potential client asked Arwani to come back another day. The man was identified as black and speaking with an African accent. He pretended to have lost his keys which is why he asked Arwani, a part-time builder, to return later. The Sunday Telegraph reported that the man, who has not been otherwise been identified, also told the imam that there was no need for his son to accompany him again when he did come back. Arwani's children are in little doubt their father was killed by the man asking for the building quote. Scotland Yard is looking into whether the man was a hired killer who postponed the hit because because Arwani was not alone. The counter-terrorism unit has special expertise relating to politically motivated assassinations but they are also keeping other lines of inquiry open. Aspects of Arwani’s personal life as well as his financial standing are being considered. The Syrian-born activist and imam died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest sustained near to the junction of the Paddocks and Greenhill, Wembley. His car was parked on what has been described as a blind bend, just out of sight of CCTV. Home: Mr Arwani, originally from Syria, lived in this home in White City, west London . Arwani’s VW Passat was parked neatly on the side of the road with its engine still running and one window wound down when his body was found . Neighbours, nearby at the time of the murder, have said they did not hear any shots fired, indicating, perhaps, that the killer used a silencer. Arwani’s VW Passat was parked neatly on the side of the road with its engine still running and one window wound down when his body was found. The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist political group to which Arwani had long-standing links, is outlawed in many Middle Eastern countries. One Syrian opposition activist has said despite Arwami’s standing and his participation in protests against the Assad regime in London in 2012 (pictured) the imam was an unlikely target for assassination . One of the imam’s friends was quoted as saying that Arwani left the group in an official capacity ‘seven or eight years ago’ but had kept ties with some of the group’s senior figures. One Muslim Brotherhood leader, Ali Sadraddine Al-Bayanouni attended a gathering in remembrance of Arwani in the capital last week. Described as ‘non-violent Islamist’ by his family Arwani had links to a number of controversial preachers. Among them was Abu Qatada, deported to Jordan and dubbed Osama Bin Laden’s man in Europe. Arwani also campaigned against the extradition of the hook-welding preacher Abu Hamzr for offences related to terrorism. Despite the connections there is nothing to suggest Arwani was anything more than a peaceful moderate. Leaving Syria in 1982 during the last, failed uprising against the Assad regime, Arwami moved to Britain in the mid 1990s. He studied Islamic Sharia in Jordan where he claimed to have been sentenced to death in his absence by Syrian authorities. One Syrian opposition activist has said despite Arwani’s standing and his participation in protests against the Assad regime in London in 2012 the imam was an unlikely target for assassination. Imam: Mr Arwani was a preacher at the An-Noor Mosque (pictured) in Acton, West London, which has a reputation for hosting fundamentalist speakers . Hassan Anywabwile (pictured) from Trinidad and Tobago was brought in to replace Arwani at the An-Noor Mosque . Bassam Tablieh, a solicitor and opponent of the Syrian government, said there were many more obvious, high priority targets for Syrian authorities to go after in London. Police are also looking into a row over finances and transparency which led to Arwani being ousted from the An-Noor mosque in Acton where he was imam up until 2011. He was replaced at his mosque by a Caribbean preacher involved in an attempted coup d'état 25 years ago. Hassan Anywabwile from Trinidad and Tobago was brought in to replace Arwani at the An-Noor Mosque. Anywabwile's name appears in the Caribbean nation's parliamentary documents surrounding a violent coup attempt in 1990 by Muslim group Jamaat al Muslimeen It is understood that Arwani wanted to register the mosque as a charity with trustees, moving it away from its current status whereby the Acton mosque operates as a company. While the building for the mosque was bought for £1 million, raised in contributions from a number of members of the community, land registry records state the sole owner to be Khalid Rashad, one of the mosque’s founders, through a firm called ‘Brickridge’. The murdered imam had reportedly begun legal proceedings in the high court over the dispute. Rashad, 61, a Muslim convert from Wembley refused to comment on the row or Arwani’s decision to leave the mosque. He referred to a statement that expressed ‘great sadness’ at the imam’s death. It has not been suggested that any members of the mosque were involved in the murder.
target: Imam Abdul Hadi Arwani called to a building job in the area he was killed .
  Possible client appeared to back off when Arwani arrived with his son .
  Anti-Assad activist found in the area days later, victim of a professional hit .
  Police look at personal and financial ties as possible motivation for killing .