Family: Militant killed in Yemen was brainwashed by extremists
Published: Mar 17, 2010 00:30 Updated: Mar 17, 2010 00:30
RIYADH: The family of a Saudi Al-Qaeda member who recently died in a face-off with the Yemeni army has said he was brainwashed by extremists, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported.
Al-Qaeda’s Yemen wing announced on Sunday that Ibrahim Saleh Mujahid Al-Khalifa, who is originally from Rass in the Kingdom’s northern region of Qasim, died in a gunbattle with security forces in Yemen. Ibrahim’s brother, Khalifa, who is head of Al-Daybeya Court in the Qassim area, said his 25-year-old brother previously worked as a teacher in Al-Dawadmi. “My brother was unmarried. This was his second year as a teacher. He was a very normal man and there was nothing to show he was an extremist,” Khalifa said.
“He did not talk about Jihad and his beard was not long. He wasn’t interested in anything in particular,” he added. Khalifa said his brother was most likely brainwashed by a friend called Waleed into traveling to Yemen and joining Al-Qaeda.
“He is the one who took my brother to fight. He was the one who called and informed us that he had been killed fighting the Yemeni Army. My brother used to telephone my other brothers but he wouldn’t ring me because he knew of my views about what he was doing. He feared I might convince him to return to home,” he said.
Ibrahim’s other brother, Muhammad, who works for the Ministry of Agriculture, also said his brother had been brainwashed. “He was a science teacher at an elementary school and I never thought he would end up this way. He asked for two months’ leave without pay and left the country via Riyadh. It was his friend who put this idea into his head. He had also left the Kingdom a few days before my brother left,” he said.
He said his brother telephoned him a number of times, but he did not get a chance to speak to him because he was not at home each time he rang. “My other brothers urged him to come back and my mother even cried to convince him to return, but he wouldn’t listen. All he would say was that he was living as a guest with some tribes in Yemen and that he was happy and not facing difficulties,” he said.
Ibrahim’s mother is sad at her son’s death. She told Al-Riyadh that she curses those responsible for his death. “He was my favorite and he always listened to me. Ever since he left, my sugar level and blood pressure have been high. I blame bad friends for what has happened to him,” she said. She added that he left saying he was going on a trip with some friends. “After three days, I asked his friends when they had returned and where Ibrahim was. They told me they hadn’t gone anywhere,” she said.
