Radicalised: Ibrahim Kamara killed this week in Syria
With his lopsided smirk, this was the British jihadi killed this week in Syria when he was a cheeky schoolboy.
Ibrahim Kamara - known as ‘Iby’ to schoolfriends - was about 13 when this snap was taken.
Shocked
friends in Brighton remembered their Manchester United-supporting
classmate as a happy, bright teenager who made people laugh and was
‘confident with the ladies’.
But
last year as he did GCSE re-sits, Kamara became radicalised in the
seaside city, and in January this year he quit his studies and sneaked
off to wage holy war in Syria.
Now, the 19-year-old and four others have become the first British fighters to be killed by a U.S. air strike.
Yesterday his mother Khadijah Kamara urged other teenagers not to follow in her ‘brainwashed’ son’s footsteps.
She
also demanded to know why airport officials had not stopped him, given
that his passport had expired and he had stolen his 15-year-old
brother’s. She said: ‘They look nothing like each other.’
Mrs
Kamara, 35, said her eldest son had been a diligent GCSE student in the
East Sussex city until he fell under the spell of the Deghayes brothers
– three nephews of former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Deghayes – and the
four boys had all travelled to Syria together.
She said: ‘No one should think what he did was right, and no one should follow him,’ she said.
‘He was brainwashed, and it happened very quickly.
‘He was a normal respectful boy. He had friends at school. He was studying IT and wanted to become an engineer.’
She said Kamara had always been an ‘obedient’ boy but in the past year had begun to defy her and come home late.
In
October 2013, he moved out into his own flat in Brighton but still had a
key to his mother’s house and often came round for dinner.
'I forgive him': Bu Kamara's mother also said: 'War is the answer to nothing' and urged others not to follow her son's example
She believes this was the time he was plotting with the Deghayes brothers to go to Syria.
Mrs
Kamara said: ‘These are the boys that he listens to. He didn’t listen
to his mother or his brothers. He must have been brainwashed.
‘They all went off together in January.
‘His passport was expired so he went up into my room and got the passport of his 15-year-old brother.
‘It
makes me wonder about the border control people because they look
nothing like each other. Why they got away with that, I don’t know.’
Mrs Kamara said: ‘I was very angry and disappointed when he told me he was in Syria. I hate the idea of war.
‘I’m upset that he would listen to these people and not to his mother or his brothers who care for him.
‘War is the answer to nothing. No religion tells anyone to fight.
‘I pray that God forgives him. I forgive him - he’s only human and we all make mistakes.’
Last year as he did his GCSE re-sits, Kamara became radicalised in Brighton
In Syria,
Kamara joined Jabhat al-Nusra, an affiliate group of Al Qaeda which has
sometimes fought with and sometimes against Islamic State
Her
15-year-old son, Mohammed, said his elder brother was ‘easily
brainwashed’, adding: ‘But he had lots of good sides, especially his
sense of humour - he was very funny.
‘He supported Manchester United and was always making jokes about football.’
Alys
Frankland, 19, a classmate of Kamara from Varndean School in Brighton,
said: ‘Always chatting, always commenting, Iby was an entertaining
addition to many a dull lesson.
‘His
astounding confidence - especially with the ladies - and ability to
talk to anyone were enviable. We all thought of him as a happy, funny,
bright guy, who led a seemingly simple and fulfilled life.
‘I
suspect he wasn’t always the favourite of the teachers, but even they
couldn’ t help but crack a smile when he came out with a well-timed
sarcastic quip.’ She added: ‘As far as I can remember he wasn’t
religious at school. I didn’t even know he was Muslim.
‘But
some people noticed that in the months before he went to Syria a lot of
stuff was being posted on his Facebook page to do with Islam and
Allah.’
In
Syria, Kamara joined Jabhat al-Nusra, an affiliate group of Al Qaeda
which has sometimes fought with and sometimes against Islamic State.
No comments:
Post a Comment