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The suicide bomber who died inside a taxi when his device blew up outside a hospital in Liverpool on Remembrance Sunday has been unmasked.

MailOnline can exclusively reveal that Enzo Almeni, 32, arrived in the UK from Iraq several years ago and converted from Islam to Christianity in 2017 at the cathedral it is believed he wanted to attack yesterday. 

Friends said Almeni was born Emad Jamil Al-Swealmeen to a Syrian father and an Iraqi mother, and is believed to have spent a large part of his life in Iraq.

He suffered from mental health problems and was arrested and sectioned in 2014 for carrying a knife around central Liverpool, MailOnline understands. 

It is thought that Almeni was a motor racing fan who changed his first name to Enzo in honour of Italian supercar creator Enzo Ferrari, and in a bid to sound more Western on his asylum application. 

Almeni spent most of his time in the UK in Liverpool, where he was being supported by Christian volunteers from a network of churches who help asylum seekers. He spent eight months living with devout Christians Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott at their home in the Aigburth district of Liverpool.

Almeni converted to Christianity in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral four years ago, which he had wanted to attack on Remembrance Sunday as 1,200 military personnel, veterans and families of the fallen gathered to observe the 11am minute's silence. 

It is thought he initially asked Mr Perry to drive him to the cathedral, but that traffic and road closures stopped him from getting there. It is believed he died after being locked in a cab by hero taxi driver David Perry as it exploded into a fireball outside Liverpool Women's Hospital. 

Detectives and MI5 spies are investigating whether the bombing was an Islamist-inspired attack and if Almeni had been motivated to kill himself and others. 

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline today, Mr Hitchcott, a former British Army soldier, said he met Almeni in 2015 through his work at Liverpool Cathedral when he started expressing an interest in converting to Christianity. 

He also revealed that Almeni was refused asylum once before, saying: 'He was refused asylum in 2014 by the UK. He had his case decided, rejected, because he has been sectioned because of some mental health incident.' 

Mr Hitchcott said: 'He first came to the cathedral in August 2015 and wanted to convert to Christianity. He took an Alpha course, which explains the Christian faith, and completed it in November of that year. That enabled him to come to an informed decision and he changed from Islam to

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