Manchester terror suspect 'living freely in Denmark'
A terror suspect from Manchester who is banned from returning to Britain is living freely in Denmark, Newsbeat can reveal.
Ahmed Halane, 22, a Danish citizen who grew up in Bolton and Chorlton, is suspected of fighting with militant groups abroad.
He is the elder brother of Zahra and Salma Halane, who ran away to Syria to become jihadi brides in June last year.
Sources say Ahmed Halane joined jihadists in Syria and Somalia.
He is now living in the Danish city of Aarhus and appears to be free to travel around the EU, even though the UK authorities have deemed him a security risk.
He is subject to an exclusion order which prohibits him from re-entering Britain.
"Exclusion orders are not a step that's taken lightly by the authorities," says Stephen Grosz QC and chair of the Law Society's human rights committee.
From a religious family of Somali origin, Ahmed
Halane was a pupil at Burnage Academy for Boys who had memorised the
Koran by the age of 13.
Sources have told Newsbeat that he was radicalised after listening to extremist preachers online, including Anwar Al-Awlaki, a US-born radical Islamist cleric and al-Qaeda leader who was killed in Yemen.
A person who knew Ahmed Halane describes him as "two-faced", someone who only showed his "extremist views" to young people.
He was an "inciter" who was "brainwashed by listening to deviant men", says the source.
"He opposes and goes against everything my religion stands for," Newsbeat was told. "He calls to ideologies which result in the killing of innocent people."
A BBC investigation has documented
the Britons known to have died in Syria and Iraq, those convicted of
offences relating to the conflict there and others believed to be living
in territory controlled by Islamic State.
It includes the stories of:
Ahmed Halane's twin sisters, Zahra and Salma, have
also been used to promote propaganda online for the self-declared
Islamic State.
The girls, who are now 17, married IS fighters after arriving in Syria, but both husbands were killed in fighting.
"His twin sisters were inspired by him, but he didn't tell them to go to Syria," says one source close to the Halane family.
He has been attending a mosque that has been accused of encouraging young people to fight in Syria.
"It's just the last maybe 20 days [that he has attended the mosque]," says Oussama el-Saadi, the chairman of Grimhoj mosque in Aarhus.
The mosque had repeatedly been accused of promoting an extremist interpretation of Islam, but now works with police and social workers to try to reintegrate returnee fighters into society.
There have been mixed results - one person, who was part of the programme, has returned to Syria.
"We give a very clear message to our people here in the mosque, that we are a part of this country," Mr El-Saadi tells Newsbeat.
"We don't accept by any way to destroy this society we live in," he says, denying that the mosque radicalises young people.
Danish authorities say 22 Aarhus residents who travelled to Syria last year previously attended Grimhoj mosque.
We saw Ahmed Halane close to the mosque hanging out with a number of former jihadi fighters who have returned from Syria.
Officials say no returnee fighters in Denmark have been jailed.
"Some of these people have obviously committed crimes, but if we can't prove it we can't send them to prison," Aarhus Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard tells Newsbeat.
"If that's not possible [imprisonment], we need to do everything in our power to make sure they are reintegrating back into society."
A friend of Ahmed Halane told us that he believes he was recently free to travel to Norway.
Newsbeat requested an interview with Danish police about the situation, but they declined to be questioned.
The Home Office says it will not comment on whether British officials have alerted other EU countries about Ahmed Halane's exclusion order.
"It's very likely that the intelligence would be
shared within the intelligence community internationally, the fact
there's an exclusion order and the reasons for it," says Stephen Grosz
QC.
Ahmed Halane was born in Denmark and then moved with his family and sisters to Manchester.
He knew a number of Manchester terror suspects, including Nur Hassan and Mohammed Javeed, who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State in late 2013.
He left the UK and travelled to Cairo in Egypt to study the same year, but later went missing.
At around this time Ahmed Halane travelled to Somalia, somewhere he admits he lived. A source close to the family says he joined al Shabaab, a jihadi group linked to al-Qaeda.
A number of sources say he also travelled to Syria and was seen in the northern city of Manbij, where his twin sisters, now widows, are believed to be living.
We understand he denies going to Syria.
"I pray to Allah you come back to us and your homeland. I know evil men brainwashed [you]," says one message, posted on a social messaging site last year, apparently by a family member.
Another message read: "[The] UK government will forgive because they know children get misled."
On a social media site, Ahmed Halane recently commented about his life, writing: "Interesting past."
Newsbeat understands he is now being monitored by the Danish intelligence services.
The Halane family declined to speak to us about the developments.
Newsbeat hasn't named sources to protect their identities.
Ahmed Halane, 22, a Danish citizen who grew up in Bolton and Chorlton, is suspected of fighting with militant groups abroad.
He is the elder brother of Zahra and Salma Halane, who ran away to Syria to become jihadi brides in June last year.
Sources say Ahmed Halane joined jihadists in Syria and Somalia.
He is now living in the Danish city of Aarhus and appears to be free to travel around the EU, even though the UK authorities have deemed him a security risk.
More related stories
"Exclusion orders are not a step that's taken lightly by the authorities," says Stephen Grosz QC and chair of the Law Society's human rights committee.
Image caption Jihadi brides posing with guns in an Islamic State propaganda picture
Sources have told Newsbeat that he was radicalised after listening to extremist preachers online, including Anwar Al-Awlaki, a US-born radical Islamist cleric and al-Qaeda leader who was killed in Yemen.
A person who knew Ahmed Halane describes him as "two-faced", someone who only showed his "extremist views" to young people.
He was an "inciter" who was "brainwashed by listening to deviant men", says the source.
"He opposes and goes against everything my religion stands for," Newsbeat was told. "He calls to ideologies which result in the killing of innocent people."
Tracking Britain's jihadists
It includes the stories of:
- 36 who are reported to have died
- 15 who have been convicted by British courts
- Many others who we have established are alive and active in Syria or Iraq
The girls, who are now 17, married IS fighters after arriving in Syria, but both husbands were killed in fighting.
"His twin sisters were inspired by him, but he didn't tell them to go to Syria," says one source close to the Halane family.
'Don't say that'
We tracked down Ahmed Halane in Aarhus. He told Newsbeat that he had not recently spoken to his sisters because they had not been online for a month.
Myself and a producer tracked down
Ahmed Halane in Aarhus. Outside the Grimhoj mosque, we introduced
ourselves with the traditional Arabic greeting "Al salaam wa alaykum"
which means "peace be upon you". He responded angrily, saying: "If
you're not Muslim, don't say that." He declined to answer questions
concerning the allegations against him
What happened when we tracked him down
"It's just the last maybe 20 days [that he has attended the mosque]," says Oussama el-Saadi, the chairman of Grimhoj mosque in Aarhus.
The mosque had repeatedly been accused of promoting an extremist interpretation of Islam, but now works with police and social workers to try to reintegrate returnee fighters into society.
There have been mixed results - one person, who was part of the programme, has returned to Syria.
"We give a very clear message to our people here in the mosque, that we are a part of this country," Mr El-Saadi tells Newsbeat.
"We don't accept by any way to destroy this society we live in," he says, denying that the mosque radicalises young people.
Danish authorities say 22 Aarhus residents who travelled to Syria last year previously attended Grimhoj mosque.
Image caption Ahmad Halane in a YouTube video
Officials say no returnee fighters in Denmark have been jailed.
"Some of these people have obviously committed crimes, but if we can't prove it we can't send them to prison," Aarhus Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard tells Newsbeat.
"If that's not possible [imprisonment], we need to do everything in our power to make sure they are reintegrating back into society."
A friend of Ahmed Halane told us that he believes he was recently free to travel to Norway.
Newsbeat requested an interview with Danish police about the situation, but they declined to be questioned.
The Home Office says it will not comment on whether British officials have alerted other EU countries about Ahmed Halane's exclusion order.
Image caption Ahmed Halane was reportedly radicalised online
Exclusion orders
- An exclusion order prohibits a person's admission to the UK
- The order can be made on the grounds of public policy, public security or public health
- They can only be made against a person who is outside the UK
- They can only be made against an EEA national (European Economic Area: made up of EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)
- An exclusion order can only be revoked by the home secretary
He knew a number of Manchester terror suspects, including Nur Hassan and Mohammed Javeed, who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State in late 2013.
He left the UK and travelled to Cairo in Egypt to study the same year, but later went missing.
At around this time Ahmed Halane travelled to Somalia, somewhere he admits he lived. A source close to the family says he joined al Shabaab, a jihadi group linked to al-Qaeda.
A number of sources say he also travelled to Syria and was seen in the northern city of Manbij, where his twin sisters, now widows, are believed to be living.
We understand he denies going to Syria.
"I pray to Allah you come back to us and your homeland. I know evil men brainwashed [you]," says one message, posted on a social messaging site last year, apparently by a family member.
Another message read: "[The] UK government will forgive because they know children get misled."
Image caption Zahra and Salma Halane before they left to join so-called Islamic State
Newsbeat understands he is now being monitored by the Danish intelligence services.
The Halane family declined to speak to us about the developments.
Newsbeat hasn't named sources to protect their identities.
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