Sunday, October 26, 2014

Now ISIS threatens to kill British jihadis who want to return home: At least 30 Britons planning to flee Syria after young Muslim from Portsmouth is killed fighting for terror group

British jihadi fighters who want to come home from Syria and Iraq are being given death threats by senior ISIS members, it has emerged.
A source with contacts among Syrian rebel groups claimed that he knew of more than 30 Britons who had become linked to the terrorists but now wanted to return to the UK.
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg said that any jihadis who wanted to quit the terror group 'could be subject to disciplinary measures which could include threats of death or death'. 
Mehdi Hassan, 19, (pictured) who attended a private Catholic school in Hampshire, travelled to Syria to fight for ISIS with four others from Portsmouth in October last year. He died in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani
Mehdi Hassan, 19, (pictured) who attended a private Catholic school in Hampshire, travelled to Syria to fight for ISIS with four others from Portsmouth in October last year. He died in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani
Speaking to the Observer, Begg explained that many of the Britons who wanted to return had originally travelled to join rebels fighting the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad and had only later become linked with ISIS.
But now the terror group refuses to allow their British members to leave.
He added that a number of Britons in Syria were currently 'stuck between a rock and a hard place'.

The revelation comes after it emerged that a former Portsmouth schoolboy who died while fighting for ISIS tried to escape Syria but was captured only minutes away from meeting his mother across the Turkish border.
The family of Mehdi Hassan, 19, who attended a private Catholic school in Hampshire, confirmed today that he died in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani after a picture of his body emerged on Twitter.
Hassan, who also used the alias Abu Dujana, had expressed plans to return to Britain over the last few months but had been scared about the repercussions and the threat of prosecution on terror charges, his family said. 
Hassan became one of the youngest people to join the group of British jihadists in Syria after travelling to the Middle East in October last year.
But following phone contact with his mother, who he discovered had travelled to Turkey to establish his whereabouts, Hassan attempted to escape from the extremist group he had once been a part of.
His attempt to flee occurred when he was recuperating in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa following treatment for a wound he sustained in battle.
Sensing his opportunity, Hassan attempted to escape without a passport, trying to reach the Turkish border town of Urfa.
He was so close to escaping, he phoned his mum and told her he could even see Urfa.
But he was caught just eight minutes away from the border and was imprisoned by ISIS for four days.
Without a passport, Hassan did not try to escape again, returning to fight for the jihadists before he was killed in Kobani.
Although it's unclear exactly why Hassan did not have his passport, ISIS is known to encourage its recruits to burn their passports upon swearing allegiance to the caliphate.
The act is considered a test of loyalty and a symbol of their fighters' desire to sever all ties to their home nation.
His family confirmed his death this morning and issued a statement to ITV which said: 'We can confirm that this is indeed Mehdi Hassan. We request that the family be left to grieve.
'Mehdi was a loving boy with a good heart wishing to help Syrians.
'In recent months he had expressed the intention to return home but was worried about the repercussions.
'This is a tragedy and a lesson.'
Hassan, 19, attended St John's College, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, which charges £10,000 a year for day pupils. He travelled to Syria in October 2013
Hassan, 19, attended St John's College, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, which charges £10,000 a year for day pupils. He travelled to Syria in October 2013
Hassan had been planning to study international politics at Surrey University in September last year but travelled to Syria to fight with four other young men prior to the start of his course.
He previously attended St John's College, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, which charges £10,000 a year for day pupils and more than double for boarders.
He was active on Twitter, using his alias Abu Dujana, and regularly posted messages from Syria.
His last post, sent just days before his death, said: 'Between 20-40 us strikes daily in ayn al arab. Alhamdulillah they are spending $10's of billions...against themselves.' (sic) 
He reportedly used to call his family in Britain 'once every couple of months,' keeping them updated on conditions in Syria.
He initially told his family that he was going to stay in Syria for just three weeks before he extended his stay for a further three months. He phoned his mother and told her to withdraw his place from Surrey University, declaring he would be staying in Syria.
His death comes just days after it was confirmed another member of the jihadist group he travelled to Syria with had also been killed while fighting.
Mamunur Roshid, 24, who joined Hassan, Ifthekar Jaman, 23, Primark worker Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, 25, and Assad Uzzaman, 25, in pretending to go on holiday to Turkey before crossing into Syria, died earlier this week.
CCTV showed the gang-of-five breezing through London's Gatwick Airport and looking like tourists setting off on a fortnight's holiday to Turkey.
In reality, the smiling Britons captured on CCTV were heading to Syria to fight their so-called 'holy war'. 
The fanatics, who called themselves the Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys, were all from Portsmouth, and had been seduced by glamorous tales of martyrdom to join Islamic State (ISIS) in establishing a Muslim caliphate in the Middle East.
Hassan, Roshid, Rahman and Jaman have all since died while fighting in Syria.
The Foreign Office said today it had not yet received any reports about Mr Hassan's death but was 'aware of reports about the death of a British national in Syria'.
A spokesman added: 'The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria, where all UK consular services are suspended. 
'As we do not have any representation in Syria, it is extremely difficult to get any confirmation of deaths or injuries and our options for supporting British nationals there are extremely limited.'
Abdul Jalil, chairman of the Portsmouth Jami Mosque which Hassan attended, told the BBC: 'It has been confirmed with the family that he has died. Right now they are very upset.
'I am saddened and again shocked for the community about this news.' 
Hassan was one of five friends from Portsmouth who pretended to go on holiday to Turkey but instead went to fight for Islamic State in Syria. The group were caught on CCTV at London's Gatwick Airport last year (pictured)
Hassan was one of five friends from Portsmouth who pretended to go on holiday to Turkey but instead went to fight for Islamic State in Syria. The group were caught on CCTV at London's Gatwick Airport last year (pictured)
In his last tweet, posted on October 17 under his alias 'Abu Dujana', Hassan told of 20-40 daily U.S. airstrikes
In his last tweet, posted on October 17 under his alias 'Abu Dujana', Hassan told of 20-40 daily U.S. airstrikes
Speaking after Roshid's death on Tuesday, Mr Jalil said: 'We are very worried about this. The imam will speak about this at the mosque on Friday, telling people not to go to Syria.
'We are doing everything we can, we are speaking with the council, the crime prevention team. We are handing out leaflets about what is happening there.'
A total of ten young extremists from Portsmouth are believed to have left the south coast city for Syria and ISIS. 
Earlier this week, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe warned that at least five Britons were joining ISIS every week.
He said: 'We know that over 500 British nationals travelled to join the conflict. Many have returned and many will wish to do so in the coming months and perhaps in future years.
'We still have an average of five people joining them a week. Five a week doesn't sound much but when you realise there are 50 weeks in a year, 250 more would be 50 per cent more than we think have gone already.
'Those numbers are a minimum. Those are the ones that we believe have gone. There may be many more who set out to travel to another country and meandered over to Syria and Iraq in a way that is not always possible to spot when you have failed states and leaky borders.'
Earlier this month, four people were arrested for terrorism offences after the former home of Jaman, the ringleader of the Portsmouth group of five of which Hassan belonged, was raided.
Jaman's mother and father, Enu Miah, 57, and Hena Choudhury, 48, were arrested and bailed, and his two brothers Tuhim, 26, and Mustakim, 23, were also arrested along with sister Tamannah Shaharin, 29. 
Hassan attended St John's College, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, which charges £10,000 a year for pupils
Hassan attended St John's College, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, which charges £10,000 a year for pupils
The British jihadists who fled for Syria regularly attended the Jami Mosque in Portsmouth (pictured)
The British jihadists who fled for Syria regularly attended the Jami Mosque in Portsmouth (pictured)

THE OTHER JIHADISTS WHO LEFT PORTSMOUTH TO FIGHT FOR ISIS IN SYRIA

Abu Abdullah Al Brittani
The 32-year-old, right, is one of ten Britons from Portsmouth to travel Syria to fight for ISIS.
The British jihadist who says he is fighting for ISIS has attempted to lure a child away from his parents with chilling online travel advice on how to reach the Middle East.
A man calling himself Abu Abdullah Al Brittani gave detailed information on how Iraq-bound Westerners can exchange currencies to an Ask.Fm user who described himself as 'underage', said he had never travelled alone before, and expressed concern about his mother and father finding out.
The post outlines ISIS' openness to luring Western fighters of all ages to their cause - including an estimated 500 Britons, many of whom end up being used as little more than 'cannon fodder' to protect better trained local jihadists.
Abu Abdullah was behind an Ask.Fm travel guide for would-be jihadists that formed part of an attempt to recruit young Britons to Iraq and Syria.
One user asked him: 'I havent any traveling and i'm underage but what do you mean with no worries about money. honestly I don't know how to change money into tukish or syrian money. How does it work? I can't ask my parents or they will now [sic]'.
Despite the poster admitting he is a child and exhibiting clear naivety, Abu Abdullah responded: 'If u have $ or £ then u fine, any other currency exchange it to $ or £ before u get here and [God willing] u will be fine [sic].'
Another message described the 'welcome pack' new ISIS recruits receive when they complete theIr induction process.
'After training u get a ak47 and magazines (4) a vest pack, grenade [sic]' he posted on Ask.Fm.
Another message contained detailed marriage advice for potential recruits.
Muhammad Hamidur Rahman
A former supervisor at Primark who wanted to join the world's most feared terrorist group, only to be killed in Syria.
Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, 25, from Portsmouth, was shot dead in a gun fight in July, a day before the Muslim festival if Eid, his family said.
His father, Abdul Hannan, 52, an Indian restaurant worker, said the family received a text message from a friend of Rahman in Syria who informed them that their son was dead.
Rahman became the second British jihadist from Portsmouth to die in Syria. The first was his friend Iftekhar Jaman, 23, who died in December.
Rahman's father, Mr Hannan, said that Jaman went to Syria first at the beginning of last year, and then took his son there by contacting him through social media.
He said that Rahman did not tell any member of his family that he was going to Syria, but suddenly disappeared from Portsmouth. Days later, they received a call from him saying he was in Syria.
Mr Hannan said: 'He asked us to pray for him, and said he wanted to become a shaheed (martyr) for the sake of Allah.'
Mashudur Choudhury
He became the first Briton to be found guilty of travelling to Syria to fight in the civil war.
Police said the conviction of Mashudur Choudhury, 31, right, was likely to pave the way for others returning from the fighting to be prosecuted.
The father of two went to fight with Al Qaeda to escape the shame of lying to his family about suffering from cancer.
Choudhury, from Portsmouth, borrowed £35,000 from his family, claiming it was for medical treatment.
But he blew it on foreign holidays, a luxury car and prostitutes.
Desperate to atone for his actions and 'make something of himself' he resolved to become a martyr fighting the brutal regime of Bashar Assad.
But he is believed to have failed the selection process to join a hardline group of Syrian rebels and was thrown out of their training camp in disgrace.
He was arrested by British anti-terror police on his return to Gatwick in October last year.
After a 12-day trial at Kingston Crown Court, West London, Choudhury was found guilty of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts.
Ifthekar Jaman
Hampshire-born Ifthekar Jaman, 23 (pictured as a child) died last year in a battlefield clash  in Syria
Hampshire-born Ifthekar Jaman, 23 (pictured as a child) died last year in a battlefield clash in Syria
The young Briton boasted of fighting '5-star jihad' in Syria but was killed.
Ifthekar Jaman, 23, died last year in a battlefield clash 2,000 miles from his Hampshire home last December.
He was one of an estimated 350 British men to have taken up arms with Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria – where they are known as British Kataa'ib, meaning British Brigade.
Speaking a month ago, Jaman declared he was ready to die as a martyr, vowing: 'I don't plan to come back. Life is for the hereafter... it's an eternal paradise so the sacrifice is small.'
He also urged fellow Britons to join him, using his Twitter account to glory in his hate-filled missions.
He described fighting in Syria as '5-star jihad' because of its 'relaxing' nature.
Photographs showed Jaman – a supporter of fanatical British cleric Anjem Choudary – apparently manning armed checkpoints in the Middle Eastern war zone just before his death. 

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