The murder of James Foley has brought the issue of young Britons traveling to the Middle East to join ISIS to the forefront of media attention. What’s the truth about the extent of the problem?
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Despite huge media attention, the actual information we have about the British man believed to have murdered James Foley remains limited. We know he's left-handed, wears Timberland boots, and speaks with an accent that appears to be from London or the southeast. A former French captive of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, aka ISIS, referred to him as "John the Jailer". Security sources told the Guardian that the man is an intelligent, educated man who has been in charge of hostage negotations in Raqqa, Syria. The Times said he's linked to a group of four British-Pakistani jailers, and may speak some Arabic. It is claimed he and his fellow guards singled Foley out when they discovered his brother was a U.S. airman.
And so far, we have very little knowledge beyond that. But this mysterious character did not appear out of the blue. His appearance in the horrific video of Foley's death has only highlighted the fact that Britons have been involved in acts of extreme violence in Syria and Iraq for well over a year now. They're not alone — scores of young men from Belgium, Denmark, Holland, France, and other European countries have joined in the fighting in the Middle East.
No one really knows exactly how many Britons are fighting for ISIS. Security services estimate that there are around 500 British civilians fighting overseas. This marks an increase since William Hague said in June that there were about "400 British nationals and other UK individuals who could present a particular risk should they return to the U.K."
However, Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Perry Barr, controversially estimates that the true figure is around 2,000, due to a lack of border controls. He pointed out that this would mean there are considerably more British Muslims in ISIS than the 600 in the army. BuzzFeed has repeatedly asked Mahmood to provide sources for his figures, but he has been unable to do so.
In the wake of Foley's murder, U.K. Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told BBC Breakfast he was aware of "significant numbers" of British jihadis. He said: "This is something we have been tracking and dealing with for many many months, and I don't think this video changes anything. It just heightens awareness of a situation which is very grave and which we've been working on for many months." There have been 69 Syria-related arrests in the UK in the first half of 2014.
Regardless, the number of people sympathetic to ISIS' cause should be seen in context: There are nearly three million Muslims in the U.K.
Earlier this year, three British men, Abdul Raqib Amin, 26, Reyaad Khan, 20, and Nasser Muthana, 20, appeared in a promotional video for ISIS.
Abdul Raqib Amin, left, Reyaad Khan, center, and Nasser Muthana.
Khan and Muthana were schoolfriends at Cantonian High School in Cardiff. Of Khan, the Daily Mail reported: "Former schoolmates remembered him as a talented scholar who had moderate views and mixed well with people of all backgrounds."
Khan once dreamed of becoming Britain's first Asian prime minister. The Guardian managed to obtain footage of a 2010 interview with him, in which he talked about "illegal wars" and young people taking the "wrong path" in life. He also talked about being "stereotyped" because of his ethnicity. There are still a number of questions about how he became radicalised. His Facebook page looked like that of any normal young man with a love of Chelsea FC and video games. It appears his interest in religion began to harden only last year, when he applied for a place at Madinah University in Saudi Arabia.
According to The Telegraph:
The college, which focuses on Islamic subjects, was where the controversial Birmingham-based preacher Abu Usamah attended. Usamah has been criticised for his extreme views, which include preaching that homosexuality should be punishable by death.
It's also been revealed that Khan grew up in the same street as Abdul Miah, who was jailed in 2012 for plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange.
Muthana was apparently a straight-A prospective medical student. His stunned father thought he was attending an Islamic seminar in Shrewsbury when he skipped the country and headed to Turkey. He was joined by his younger brother Aseel, 17, believed to be the youngest Briton to join the terror networks so far, who took a different route, via Cyprus.
When interviewed by the Telegraph, Muthana's father said:
Who is behind this? Who is paying for my sons to go and risk their lives fighting in a war that doesn't concern them? Behind this are Islamic radicals, hiding behind the scenes, influencing the minds of young people. It is not members of the Yemeni community in Cardiff doing this. They come from outside, I'm sure. But someone is persuading them, brainwashing them, helping them travel, arranging tickets.
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1qwCLI4
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