The friends and family of a suspected British suicide bomber say they are praying that he 'will walk through the door, as counter-terrorism teams search his home.
Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, is suspected of being responsible for driving a lorry into a jail in Aleppo and detonating a bomb last week.
Officials have not confirmed the identity of the bomber amid reports that a UK jihadi, who used the name Abu Suleiman al-Britani, carried out the bombing.
Scroll down for video
+12
+12
Abdul Waheed Majeed, from Crawley, who is suspected of being a suicide bomber in Syria
+12
Probe: Counter-terrorism officers are examining this house in Martyrs Avenue, Langley Green, Crawley, West Sussex, after reports that a UK jihadi, understood to be Abdul Waheed Majid, 41, carried out a deadly bombing in Syria
It is thought to be the first time a Briton has staged a suicide attack in the war-torn state, where rising numbers of UK-born extremists have gone to fight.
Counter terrorism officers were searching Majeed's home in Martyrs Avenue in Langley Green, Crawley, West Sussex.
The house is the childhood home of convicted child killer Roy Whiting who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Sarah Payne, according to neighbours
Married father-of-three Majeed, known as Waheed, left Britain six months ago, telling his family he was going on a humanitarian mission to Syria.
Arif Syed, a community leader in Crawley, said Majeed would phone or Skype his family every three days, but communication was lost with him about seven days ago.
UK counter-terrorism teams have grown increasingly concerned about the trend of young Britons travelling to Syria to train to fight with jihadi groups, and the potential that they could return and stage attacks on UK soil.
Mr Syed, 59, said he hoped to learn that Majeed was not behind the attack in Aleppo.
+12
History: The end-of terraced house in Crawley was once the home of schoolgirl Sarah Payne's killer Roy Whiting, according to neighbours
'We have got our hopes high,' he said.
'We are praying that he will walk through the door. It's a good possibility that he's still alive and well, and is just not communicating.
'We live with this hope until the authorities confirm, or we get eye-witnesses that say it was him. We strongly hope and believe that he is alive and well, and that he will join his family.'
Born and bred in Crawley, Majeed, who worked as a highways contractor, is a father of two boys and a girl aged 18, 16 and 12.
+12
Guard: A police officer outside the house, which is situated on a quiet residential street
His uncle, Mohammad Jamil, 65, said Majeed had never shown any sign of extremism. He said: 'If the family knew about this, we wouldn't have let him go.'
Majeed left for what was said to be his first humanitarian mission to Syria in August, and had not indicated when he would return to Britain.
Mr Syed said he missed two opportunities to return, the last in early January. He said: 'He enjoyed it so much and he extended his period of stay.'
Mr Syed said the police informed the family that they could not confirm through their intelligence that Majeed was definitely responsible for the bombing.
He said: 'The family has been in constant touch with him for several weeks, and he has been sending photographs.
'He has mostly been working with a charity on the refugee camps and distributing aid which he has collected from here and other towns in the UK.
'He was quite happy and enjoying this piece of work. We had communication until about seven days ago.
'He had said he was going to another camp and there might be switch-off with the communication, which has happened before.
'He said "If I don't contact you for a few days, don't worry about it, I will be in touch again". That's the last communication we had.'
Police have confirmed they are searching a private house in Crawley and believe the name 'Abu Suleiman al-Britani' is an alias but are unable to confirm his true identity at this stage.
The Foreign Office said it is unable to confirmed the suspect's identity, or if he is British, due to a lack of DNA evidence.
Using the name Abu Suleiman al-Britani, the bomber is believed to have carried out an attack on a prison in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Thursday last week by driving a truck full of explosives at the walls of the prison and detonating it.
+12
Hope: Community leader Arif Syed (left) and Majeed's uncle Muhammed Jamil (right) addressing members of the media in a nearby mosque
+12
Cut off: Mr Syed said Majeed would phone or Skype his family every three days, but communication was lost with him about seven days ago
Hundreds of rebels stormed in behind him - reportedly freeing up to 300 inmates from the regime-controlled compound and prompting air strikes by government forces.
However, the Syrian government denies this many inmates were able to escape in the aftermath of the blast.
In a photo taken before the attack and posted on Twitter, a modified truck believed to be driven by the bomber can be seen travelling toward Aleppo prison.
The vehicle features the black Jabhat al-Nusr flag and is decked out with explosives.
The bomber is thought to have blown himself up as he reached the gates of the prison, which houses an estimated 4,000 inmates.
+12
Explosion: Using the alias Abu Suleiman al-Britani, Majid is believed to have died after blowing himself up in a suicide attack on Aleppo prison in Syria. Above, smoke rises from the jail following a reported air strike by government forces
+12
Attack: The bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into the jail - freeing hundreds of inmates, according to British fighters in Syria. Above, this photo shows the modified truck reportedly driven by Britani
The attack was reportedly part of an offensive aimed at capturing key government symbols around the northern city of Aleppo.
If his identity is confirmed, Majid - who is of Pakistani origin - will be the eighth Briton to die fighting in Syria since the uprising against president Bashar Assad began three years ago.
Majid is thought to be the first Briton to stage a suicide attack in the war-torn state, where increasing numbers of UK-born extremists have gone to fight.
Counter-terrorism teams in the UK have grown increasingly concerned about the trend of young Britons travelling to Syria to train to fight with jihadi groups, and the potential that they could return and stage attacks on UK soil.
Since the conflict began in 2011, 100,000 people have died and 9.5 million people have been displaced from their homes.
+12
+12
Occupant: The house is believed to be the childhood home of convicted child killer Roy Whiting who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Sarah Payne
In 2007 three men from Langley Green - Omar Khyam, Waheed Mahmood and Jawad Akbar - were convicted for plotting to blow up Bluewater shopping centre and a gas network with a giant fertiliser bomb.
The two-storey end of terrace house in Crawley remained cordoned off this afternoon as police combed the property.
Neighbour Nita Bateman, 55, said Whiting used to live at the house and expressed shock that it could have been used by a suicide bomber.
She described the house's last occupant as a 'pleasant chap' in his 40s.
She said: 'When I became very ill, he was always willing to help, and he would do my neighbour's hedges.
'I'm beginning to wonder whether it's something to do with that house. He was the next person to move in after Roy Whiting's dad moved out.
'I know he was born in West Green, just up the road from here. I have lived here for 20 years, and after all the hoo-ha with Roy Whiting, he moved in soon afterwards.
+12
Past: A neighbour said that the house's current occupant, believed to be Majid, had moved in after Roy Whiting's father left the property. Pictured is Whiting in 2001
'I didn't really see him on a daily basis, but you would never have a bad word to say about him - he was just a pleasant chap.
'I would say I'm shocked, but you just don't know what goes on behind closed doors.'
Ms Bateman said she would often see the man drive to work in a motorway maintenance lorry.
She went on: 'Whenever we saw each other he would acknowledge me and I would him.'
Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said: 'He was just a quiet guy. Whenever I saw him, he was either working on his car or doing other stuff,' said the neighbour.
'Sometimes I would see him drive off in a maintenance lorry. Whenever I saw him, I would nod my head and say hello.
'We have been living here for more than 12 years, so he has been here longer. It was a shock when I found out because he was a nice guy, but I don't know much about him.'
Sussex Police confirmed that they are working closely with South East Counter Terrorism Unit in relation to its enquiries.
'Sussex Police is aware of posts on social media. We are closely liaising with the South East Counter Terrorism Unit in relation to its inquiries,' said a spokesman.
'There has been no formal identification of the man and therefore we cannot confirm who he is.'
Crawley MP Henry Smith said: 'I don't know any personal details of the individual allegedly involved and police are not confirming that he was from Crawley at this stage.
'However, it is very concerning and heightens the importance of Foreign Office advice that people should not travel to Syria for safety reasons and risk getting involved.
'Crawley has very good community relations involving people of different faiths but it is particularly shocking if someone from the town is involved in radicalization.'
No comments:
Post a Comment