Isis Threatens to Kill British Jihadis Wanting to Come Home

THE GUARDIAN: ‘At least 30’ Britons seek to flee Islamic State as it is revealed that a fourth young Muslim from Portsmouth has died in Syria

British jihadi fighters desperate to return home from Syria and Iraq are being issued with death threats by the leadership of Islamic State (Isis), the Observer has learned.

A source with extensive contacts among Syrian rebel groups said senior Isis figures were threatening Britons who were attempting to travel home. He said: “There are Britons who upon wanting to leave have been threatened with death, either directly or indirectly.”

The news comes after it was revealed that another young Muslim from Portsmouth had been killed on the frontline in Syria, the fourth to die from a group of six men known as the “Pompey lads” who travelled together to fight for Isis. » | Mark Townsend | Saturday, October 25, 2014

British Extremists among 'Most Vicious' in Isis, Expert Says

THE GUARDIAN: Jihadism expert says Sunni Muslims from the UK do everything from suicide bombings to executions in Syria and Iraq conflicts

British extremists are among the "most vicious and vociferous fighters" in Islamic State (Isis) ranks in Syria and Iraq, a jihadism expert has said.

Sunni Muslims from the UK are taking part in the conflicts "in every way", according to Shiraz Maher from King's College London's International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.

That includes acting as suicide bombers and executioners, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday after a video purporting to show a US journalist being beheaded by an Isis fighter with a British accent was placed online.

The black-clothed and masked man, who spoke with traces of a London accent, threatened bloodshed in the gruesome video, accusing America of plotting against Muslims and interfering in their affairs before taking a knife to his victim's throat. » | Press Association | Wednesday, August 20, 2014

British 'Jihadist' Describes His Plan to Go to Iraq or Syria to Fight

BBC: The role of a reported 400 British jihadists who have joined fighting in Syria and Iraq has been much highlighted in reports from the region in recent weeks.

But what is the motivation for people, usually revealed to be youngsters with little or no experience of conflict, to leave their homes in British towns and cities to do so?

One British man who is still in the UK has told the BBC in an interview that he feels it is his "obligation" to now go to Iraq or Syria.

We don't know his real name, or where he comes from in the UK, and during our TV interview his face is covered with a bright red scarf.

After he says hello, "Ahmed", as he wants to be known, speaks with purpose. He details why he wants to fight in Iraq or Syria.

"God has commanded for the Muslims to go and fight jihad", he says. (+ video) » | Ed Thomas | North of England Correspondent, BBC News | Friday, August 15, 2014

British Jihadi: I Won't Return to UK until Black Flag Flies over Buckingham Palace

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Jihadist says he doesn't want to come back to what he has left behind in Britain because it is 'just pure evil', says Abu Osama who is fighting with jihadists in Syria

A British man who claims he is fighting with jihadists in Syria has said he would not return to the UK until "the black flag of Islam" flies over Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

The man, who called himself Abu Osama, said he had received military training, including how to build bombs and shoot weapons, during his time in Syria.

Speaking with a West Yorkshire accent in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, he described the 7/7 London bombers as “heroic lions”, claiming "there is nothing in Britain - it is just pure evil".

Osama said he was fighting with the extremist Al-Nusra Front, linked to Al-Qaeda. However the BBC said his claims had not been “officially verified”.

The man told presenter Nicky Campbell: "I have no intention of coming back to Britain, because I have come to revive the Islamic Khilafah [the Arabic term for the creation of a caliphate].

"I don't want to come back to what I have left behind.

"If and when I come back to Britain it will be when this Khilafah - this Islamic state - comes to conquer Britain and I come to raise the black flag of Islam over Downing Street, over Buckingham Palace, over Tower Bridge and over Big Ben." » | Raziye Akkoc | Friday, July 04, 2014

Man calls for 'black flag of Islam' over Buckingham Palace »

Iraq Crisis: British Student Identified as Recruiting Isis Jihadists

Abu Dujana al Hindi (left), Nasser Muthana from Cardiff (centre)
and Abu Bara al Hindi (right)

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Cardiff medical student Nasser Muthana, 20, is identified as a Briton at the centre of a campaign to recruit would-be jihadists to Iraq and Syria
An aspiring Cardiff medical student was last night identified as the Briton at the centre of a campaign by an Islamic terror group to recruit would-be jihadists to Iraq and Syria.

Nasser Muthana, 20, appeared in a propaganda video by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham [Isis] urging others to join him.

His father, Ahmed Muthana, told The Daily Telegraph last night that Nasser’s 17-year-old brother, Aseel, was fighting alongside him. He claimed his sons were “brainwashed” in Britain.

Mr Muthana said watching footage of his son had made him cry. "I wish I could hold him, hold his hand, ask him to come back," he said.

"As a father I give a message, not only to Nasser, to all the people that go from Britain to Syria to fight please stop. Come back home." » | Tom Whitehead, Claire Duffin, Philip Sherwell and Richard Spencer | Friday, June 20, 2014

Britons Fighting for Isis in Recruitment Video

The recruitment video broadcast by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Three jihadists apparently from Britain urge others to martyr themselves as they head for Iraq

British jihadists are encouraged [sic] more young Muslims to head to Syria and Iraq to martyr themselves in a chilling new recruitment video for the terror group Isis.

The men urge their fellow countrymen to “answer the call” and to “fight for Allah”, while one claims “you are going to die anyway”.

Posted online on Thursday, they also claim they are about to cross the border from Syria in to [sic] Iraq to fight there – the clearest indication yet that Britons are involved in the renewed Iraqi civil conflict.

One even claims they are ready to take the fight to Jordan or Lebanon.

The professionally shot 13-minute video, entitled “There is no life without Jihad”, has been broadcast by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and coincides with a fresh propaganda campaign by the violent fanatics. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Friday, June 20, 2014

A Terrorist Storm Is Heading for the West, and the Brutal ISIS Is Behind It

Read and comment on the Telegraph blog here | Tom Rogan | Wednesday, May 21, 2014
My comment:

Isn't this multiculturalist thingy such a boon to UK society? Hasn't it enriched our society so much? Oh the joys of diversity! What the hell have idiotic Western politicians inflicted upon the poor, innocent British population? This is an intractable problem for us to deal with, and it will take decades to solve – if indeed it ever will be solved. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Up to 700 Britons Feared Fighting in Syria

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Police warn they cannot stop would-be jihadists from leaving the country but will arrest any returning fighters

Up to 700 Britons could now be fighting in Syria and police are powerless to stop would-be jihadists heading there, the UK’s counter-terrorism chief has admitted.

But Helen Ball, the police senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism, warned anyone who takes part in any form of fighting, even for the Free Syrian Army, will face arrest on their return.

Metropolitan Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ball said it was likely the number of Brits in Syria is now in the “mid” rather than “low” hundreds as previously thought, including some as young as 16.

The warning came as police launched a national campaign to urge mothers, wives and sisters to report on their loved ones and stop them travelling to the war[-]torn country. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Thursday, April 24, 2014

Nick Clegg Backs Met’s Call for Muslims to Stop Sons Joining Syria Conflict

Speaking on his regular phone-in radio show on LBC, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg backs the Metropolitan police initiative to stop young British men from joining the Syria conflict. The Lib Dem leader warns that the return of radicalised fighters from Syria presents a serious security threat to the UK

Jihad: British Fighters in Syria Urge Others to Join Them

THE INDEPENDENT: Rebel group Isis have released a video urging British citizens' participation

A British citizen fighting with an extremist rebel group in Syria has issued a call for others to join the country’s civil war.

In a video posted online, a masked man speaking in a London accent says that “the doors of jihad are still open,” and claims that he has helped three other Brits make the journey to Syria.

The man is believed to be a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) – an extremist Islamist rebel group formerly affiliated with al-Qa’ida and similar in ideology. He has appeared in several other videos uploaded by a group called Rayat al-Tawheed, which claims to be the distributor of English-language materials for Isis.

The plea from the rebel fighter comes as UK authorities are becoming increasingly concerned at the number of British citizens travelling to Syria to join extremist groups in the three year old civil war. British and other non-Syrians travelling to Syria tend to gravitate towards al-Qa’ida-type groups that espouse global jihad. » | Richard Hall | Thursday, March 20, 2014

Syria Bomber Hailed as 'Hero' by Family

Abdul Waheed Majeed moments before his attack in February

BBC: The brother of a British man who blew himself up in Syria has told Newsnight he should be regarded as a hero.

Abdul Waheed Majeed, of Crawley, died last month when he drove a truck bomb at the gates of Aleppo Prison.

His brother Hafeez said that his family wanted to challenge the idea that the attack represented a terrorist threat to the UK. More than 30 people have been arrested this year as police step up operations to stop people fighting in Syria.

The government fears that some people going to fight in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad's regime will become radicalised and battle-hardened by joining al-Qaeda linked groups.

Security chiefs believe that hundreds of people have gone to fight in Syria and their return poses the greatest national security challenge since to the UK since 9/11.

Speaking exclusively to Newsnight, Hafeez Majeed said he believed his 41-year-old brother had died trying to save Syrian people who were being tortured in the regime's prisons.

"If my brother had been a British soldier and there were British people in that prison and the act of heroism or bravery that he did, I know he would have been awarded the posthumous Victoria Cross," said Mr Majeed. » | Dominic Casciani, Home affairs correspondent, BBC News | Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The full story of Abdul Waheed Majeed's life and death is on Newsnight, BBC Two at 2230 GMT.

Terrorist Group Releases British 'Suicide Bomber' Martyrdom Video

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Abdul Waheed Majeed smiles and poses for the camera with fellow fighters minutes before he carries out what is believed to be the first suicide attack by a Briton in Syria

Looking calm and relaxed, it is hard to believe these are the last moments of Abdul Waheed Majeed's life.

The jihadist, thought to be the first British citizen to carry out a suicide attack in Syria, poses for the camera with his hands nonchalantly in his pockets, dressed in a white Muslim robe and black scarf on his head bearing the insignia of an extremist Islamist group.

Minutes later he would drive a truck laden with explosives into the gates of a nearby prison, killing himself and scores others.

Today, Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda-aligned group to which he belonged, released a 46-minute "martyrdom" video showing the moments leading up to his death.

Standing next to the truck he would use in his mission, he is approached by the cameraman and asked in Arabic to say some final words. Majeed appears not to understand and a third voice interrupts to explain that he speaks English. (+ Telegraph video) » | Josie Ensor | Friday, February 14, 2014

NHS Doctor Accused of Being Part of 15-strong British Jihadi Group in Syria
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An NHS trained doctor is suspected of being part of a British-led jihadist kidnap group in Syria that includes up to 15 young people from the UK.

Shajul Islam, 26, appeared in court yesterday charged with his role in the gang which kidnapped and injured British photographer John Cantlie and Dutch journalist Jeroen Oerlemans in July this year.

Islam, from Stratford, east London, has a first-class degree in biochemistry and trained to be a doctor at St Bartholomew's and a University of London hospital.

He was arrested last week at Heathrow Airport and charged with a terrorism offence after arriving with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

He is accused of being part of an extremist group that kept Mr Cantlie and Mr Oerlemans captive for around a week in the war-torn state in the summer. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Security Services 'Failing' to Stop British Jihadis Heading to Syria
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Fears are growing that a new generation of British jihadis may be cutting their teeth in Syria, reports Andrew Gilligan

They called it "blowback" - the British jihadis, allowed to travel to Afghanistan to fight the Russians, who then laid the seeds of a serious security threat to the UK. Could the same thing now be happening in Syria?

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has established that fundamentalist groups in the Syrian civil war are recruiting growing numbers of young people from Britain with no previous links to the country. MPs, community leaders and anti-extremism campaigners are deeply worried that a new generation is being radicalised in Syria, in the same way as British bombers and terror plotters of the past decade were schooled along the Afghan-Pakistan border. But the British security authorities appear to be taking little or no action. » | Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, August 25, 2012

Four UK Men Plead Guilty in London Bomb Plot
Four British men plead guilty to taking part in plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange in 2010.

Related »

Terror Gang Who Plotted to Blow Up London Stock Exchange Could Be Free in Six Years
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A terrorist gang involved in a plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange, the American Embassy and the home of Boris Johnson could be free in just six years.

The group of four Qaeda-inspired fundamentalists admitted planning to send mail bombs to their targets during the run up to Christmas 2010 and discussed launching a Mumbai-style attack on Parliament.

But they could all be out after just six years after the two ringleaders of the group were given an indication of their sentences before deciding whether or not to plead guilty.

Mohammed Chowdhury, described as the group’s “lynchpin”, and Shah Rahman, his accomplice, pleaded guilty following a so-called Goodyear hearing where the judge gave them an indication of their maximum sentences should they plead guilty.

The judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, told Chowdhury, 21, that he would be sentenced to no more than 13 and half years, while Rahman, 28, was told he would be given 12 and a half years if he admitted his involvement in the plot.

The two, along with fellow conspirators Gurukanth Desai, 30, and Abdul Miah, 25, admitted the charges of preparing for acts of terrorism after being made aware of the sentences they were likely to serve.

It was part of a controversial 'Goodyear Direction' which allows defendants to judge whether they should plead guilty, depending on the sentence they are likely to face.

Had they been opted to go to trial instead and been found guilty by a jury, they would likely have been sentenced to approximately 20 years.

But now they could be out in fewer than six years. They will be released automatically at the half-way point in their sentence and spend the remainder on licence.

They will also have a year deducted for time already spent on remand. » | Mark Hughes, Tom Whitehead and Duncan Gardham | Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Generation of Terrorists Being Groomed in British Jails
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A new generation of “lone killers” is being groomed for terrorism in UK jails, a think-tank has warned.

Major sporting events such as this year’s Olympic Games could be targeted by Muslim ex-prisoners who were radicalised whilst behind bars, according to a study published in the journal of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

It warned that up to around one in 10 of the UK’s 8,000 Muslim inmates were being successfully targeted by extremists inside jail and could form the next generation of terrorists. » | Victoria Ward | Wednesday, February 01, 2012

British and American Fighters Respond to Jihad Call in Somalia
TIMES ONLINE: Up to a thousand foreign fighters, including Britons, have answered the call to jihad in Somalia and are leading street-fighting Islamist extremists in the war-torn capital Mogadishu, The Times has learnt.

Early yesterday the Western-backed Government launched a counter-offensive after almost a fortnight of attacks by insurgents that have killed at least 200 civilians.

At least 45 people were killed yesterday in battles across the city, the highest daily death toll for months.

The insurgents’ attacks have threatened to topple the shaky Government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed only weeks after the international community pledged £135 million to support him.

Senior security officials in the region say that the foreign fighters are behind the recent success of the extremists. More than 290 fighters from Britain, the US, Canada, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia entered Mogadishu in the past two weeks. >>> Tristan McConnell in Nairobi | Saturday, May 23, 2009