Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Friend of murdered hostage Alan Henning defends Isil online

Friend of murdered hostage Alan Henning defends Isil online

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11233372/Friend-of-murdered-hostage-Alan-Henning-defends-Isil-online.html

Charity worker Majid Freeman, who spoke at murdered hostage Alan Henning's memorial service, has posted messages on Facebook apparently justifying Isil

A family handout picture of Alan Henning with an unidentified child.  The undated image was taken at a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border.
A family handout photograph of Alan Henning with an unidentified child. The undated image was taken at a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border 
A speaker at the memorial service for Alan Henning, the British hostage murdered by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has posted on social media apparently justifying Isil, promoting al-Qaeda and expressing sympathy for Syrian jihadist “martyrs”.
Majid Freeman, a charity worker from Leicester, was with Mr Henning when he was abducted in Syria last year. He has been quoted in the media as a friend of the aid volunteer and has criticised the Government for “abandoning” him.
On Oct 13, Mr Freeman addressed mourners including Mr Henning’s widow and children at the memorial service in Manchester, describing him as a “beautiful, genuine human being” who “went to Syria to help” at a time when the whole international community “were paying mere lip service”.
However, two weeks later, on his Facebook page, Mr Freeman asked for “dua”, or prayers, for the brothers of a British Isil terrorist, Ifthekar Jaman, who have been charged in connection with an alleged Syrian terrorist plot.
On Oct 19, he posted a link on his Facebook page to a YouTube video by Ghassan Ibn Kamal, which presents Isil as a reasonable response to Western foreign policy. Mr Freeman wrote: “This brother hit the nail on the head.”
Mr Freeman has also posted links to an Isil propaganda video made under duress by another of the group’s hostages, John Cantlie.

He has also tweeted: “Britain join war of terror. Drop bombs in populated areas. Innocent civilians lose loved ones = join Isis to get revenge.”

On Oct 22, the day a terrorist gunman killed a soldier in Canada and invaded the country’s parliament, Mr Freeman stated on Twitter: “You can’t go around randomly punching people in the face without expecting a reaction. Same applies to bombing other countries.”

Mr Freeman posted on Facebook and Instagram describing Jaffer Deghayes, an al-Qaeda jihadist from Brighton who died in Syria, as a “shaheed” or martyr who had died “defending the oppressed”. Deghayes, 17, the nephew of a former Guantánamo detainee, was fighting for Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

On Sept 26, Mr Freeman retweeted a statement that “Jabhat al-Nusra, we are with you even if the world fights you” and has tweeted propaganda pictures of members of the group distributing water to residents in Aleppo.

On Facebook last week, he said that the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, which was briefly closed by the Israelis at the time, “will be conquered by jihad, not by peace… none will enter it except those who believe in removing the door, not those who search for its key”.

In November last year, Mr Freeman posted a tribute video to Anwar al-Awlaki, the al-Qaeda cleric blamed for inciting a number of terrorist attacks.

He is also promoting an event with the Islamic Education and Research Academy, which sends non-violent extremist preachers to speak at mosques and to Muslim audiences across Britain.
Mr Freeman has been questioned by the police, but not charged with any crime.

The disclosure of Mr Freeman’s apparent views will add to the growing questions about Aid4Syria, the group

he and Mr Henning were travelling with in an aid convoy. The 47-year-old taxi driver from Eccles, Greater Manchester, was seized on Boxing Day last year only half an hour after crossing into Syria. Others in the convoy, including Mr Freeman and a number of other British Muslims, were released. Aid4Syria named a water project and fire engine after Aafia Siddiqi, a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist who is serving an 86-year jail sentence in the US for attempted murder. Isil demanded Siddiqi’s release in exchange for the life of Mr Henning’s fellow hostage James Foley, who was murdered in August.

Aid4Syria has also campaigned for Siddiqi’s release, saying she is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. It has organised a number of events in the UK with extremist speakers. According to the anti-extremist body Stand for Peace, Aid4Syria has also circulated an inflammatory video by Mohammed al-Arifi, an extremist cleric, encouraging Muslims to wage war in Syria. Al-Arifi has been banned from Britain after allegedly grooming the first two British Muslims to appear in an Isil propaganda video.

Aid4Syria’s parent charity, Al Fatiha Global, is under investigation by the Charity Commission for alleged “links [with] individuals purportedly involved in supporting armed or other inappropriate activities in Syria”. The investigation was launched in March after one of its workers, Adeel Ali, was apparently pictured with his arms around two masked men holding rifles. He denies the picture is of him.

Two other charities involved in the aid convoy joined by Mr Henning and Mr Freeman, IHH and Children in Deen, have also been accused of aiding jihadist terrorism in Syria. IHH, a Turkish group, was raided by that country’s police earlier this year. Children in Deen is under investigation by the Charity Commission. The first British suicide bomber in Syria, Abdul Waheed Majeed, travelled to the country in a convoy organised by Children in Deen.

A third charity involved in the aid convoy, One Nation, is the subject of “concerns” by the Charity Commission over its work in Syria. One of its trustees, Arshad Patel, was arrested by police investigating the 7/7 London suicide bombings, but not charged. His sister, Hasina, is the widow of Mohammed Sidique Khan, the leader of the suicide bombers. Mr Freeman is also closely linked to One Nation.

There is no suggestion that Mr Freeman, who described the sight of Mr Henning in an Isil propaganda video as his “worst nightmare”, was personally involved in, or in any way condoned, the hostage’s abduction.

Kasim Jameel, the leader of the Aid4Syria convoy from which he was kidnapped, also denied any connection between the group and Mr Henning’s captors. He said: “No one sold him out – that is just ridiculous. Yes, we have many different people with different views, but that doesn’t make them terrorists.”

Over several days last week, Mr Freeman and his solicitor declined to respond to any questions about his views.

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