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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| British pair who travelled to Syria admit terror charges | British pair who travelled to Syria admit terror charges |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Two British men who went to Syria to join rebel fighters have pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. | Two British men who went to Syria to join rebel fighters have pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. |
| Nahin Ahmed and Yusuf Sarwar, both 22 and from Birmingham, admitted preparing to carry out terrorist acts. | Nahin Ahmed and Yusuf Sarwar, both 22 and from Birmingham, admitted preparing to carry out terrorist acts. |
| They spent eight months in Syria and were arrested by West Midlands Police's counter-terrorism unit at Heathrow Airport on their return in January. | They spent eight months in Syria and were arrested by West Midlands Police's counter-terrorism unit at Heathrow Airport on their return in January. |
| They had travelled to Syria to take part in its civil war after contacting Islamic extremists. | They had travelled to Syria to take part in its civil war after contacting Islamic extremists. |
| Police believe Ahmed and Sarwar fought with the al-Nusra Front, which is a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda. | Police believe Ahmed and Sarwar fought with the al-Nusra Front, which is a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda. |
| Their trial had been due to start but, at Woolwich Crown Court in London, they each admitted one count of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorism acts, contrary to section five of the Terrorism Act. | Their trial had been due to start but, at Woolwich Crown Court in London, they each admitted one count of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorism acts, contrary to section five of the Terrorism Act. |
| Police 'waiting' | |
| West Midlands Police said they were alerted to the case after Sarwar's parents contacted them in May 2013 to say he was missing. | |
| They had found a letter in which their son, who was a computer science undergraduate at Birmingham City University, admitted he had gone "to do jihad" in Syria. | |
| He also left instructions to cancel his mobile phone contract and money to settle outstanding debts. | |
| Police said Ahmed, an unemployed former postal worker, had "considered going to Yemen and had sought advice from a fighter in Syria and from extremists in Denmark and Sweden". | |
| The men bought one-way tickets to Turkey then crossed the border to Syria - and when they got back officers were "waiting to arrest them", police said. | |
| Police added: "Traces of military grade explosives were found on their clothing and pictures on their camera showed them brandishing weapons. | |
| "Detectives used satellite imaging to establish from the photographs that the men had been in and around Aleppo - one of the main conflict zones." | |
| Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said the men had gone to "considerable lengths" to hide their plans from their families, and urged people to tell the police if they suspected a family member was planning to travel to Syria. | |
| "It's not easy to know everything that a family member is doing all of the time, but we encourage parents to hold a healthy interest and curiosity into who their children mix with and who seems to hold a strong influence over them," he said. | |
| He also said officers would try to protect those who were "vulnerable to radicalisers", to prevent them getting involved in crime. |