Father of jihadi brothers on Syria mission to save surviving son

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/18/abubaker-deghayes-brighton-jihadi-syria-amer

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A father from Brighton who lost two sons during fighting in Syria is on his way to the Middle East to bring home his remaining son, currently fighting with Islamist extremists against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

Abubaker Deghayes is currently thought to be in Libya, on his way to northern Syria, in an audacious mission to “rescue” Amer, 20, who travelled to the Middle East in January last year.

His other two sons – Jaffar, 17, and Abdullah, 18 – were killed fighting Syrian government forces in separate incidents last year. Amer is the last surviving member of a group of four jihadis known as the “Brighton Boys”, who secretly travelled to Syria last year to fight for the al-Qaida-affiliate Jabhat al-Nusr. The Observer has also learned that a 17-year-old girl from Brighton – described as a close friend of the Deghayes family – was recently stopped at Gatwick on suspicion of attempting to join jihadis in Syria. The incident was not publicly reported, raising questions over precisely how many other British teenagers have been intercepted while attempting to travel to Syria.

The news that Abubaker Deghayes, 46, has made it to Libya, where Islamic extremism is on the rise, will raise concerns over how the British security services allowed such a high-profile figure linked to foreign fighters to travel abroad. He has previously revealed that the authorities had stopped him from attempting to go to Syria to bring his son back by withdrawing his passport. Following the death of Abdullah a year ago, counter-terrorism officers raided the Deghayes family home and seized material after a warrant had been issued under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Deghayes brothers are nephews of Omar Deghayes, who was held by the US as an enemy combatant at Guantánamo Bay detention camp between 2002 and 2007.

Libya is a destination for many British jihadis and is under increasing scrutiny from intelligence agencies, with Islamic State (Isis) militants claiming responsibility for a recent wave of attacks. The US believes the group is running training camps across the north African state.

A source who has been involved with the family for many years said: “He’s saying that he intends to get his son back from inside Syria. It may well be that he has some connections to extreme groups in order to try to get his son back, though going to Libya at this time, where he has family, may not have been the best move.”

It is understood that Abubaker Deghayes is planning to head from Libya to Turkey before crossing into Syria, the route also used by his three sons.

His Facebook page suggests that he left the UK more than two months ago, leaving London on 1 February. He took the ferry from the Italian port of Salerno on 16 February, arriving the following day, via Palermo in Sicily, at the Tunisian port of Carthage, which is around 500km (300 miles) from the Libyan border.

Abubaker has previously pleaded with his sons to come home, once travelling to Turkey, where he met the two who later died, in a failed attempt to stop them entering Syria. The surviving son, Amer, has previously stated that he will continue to fight pro-Assad forces in Syria “till death”. All three sons left for Syria without telling him of their intended destination.

It has also been claimed that the family, who now live in Saltdean, East Sussex, were subjected to sustained racism and abuse over a number of years. Sources said that the Deghayes’ mother, Einas Abulsayen, was the subject of the most abuse, a fact that may have added to her sons’ sense of detachment from the area. “The racism against the family may have had an impact on the young men, given the turbulence in their lives,” a source added.

Ibrahim Kamara, 19, who went to Syria with the three Deghayes brothers and was killled in a US airstrike there last September, is also said to have been affected by sustained racism suffered by his mother, Khadija Kamara, which resulted in her having to be relocated on numerous occasions.

Data has shown that more than half of Islamophobic attacks in Britain are committed against women, who are typically targeted because they are wearing clothing associated with Islam. Isis supporters are reported to have attempted to recruit jihadi brides by promising them that they will not experience racism in the “caliphate”.

The statistics, which show spikes in anti-Muslim abuse across the UK following coverage of Isis brutality, were collected by the Tell Mama hotline, which records anti-Muslim hate crimes but whose funding has still to be renewed.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove city council said it could not comment on individual cases, but said it had introduced a project last autumn to strengthen community cohesion. Called the One Voice programme, it helps parents understand the threats of radicalisation to young people online and looks at countering Islamophobia.