‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court

‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court
Shabazz Suleman was detained by Turkish forces trying to cross into Syria. (Counter Terrorism Policing South East)
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Updated 27 May 2023
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‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court

‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court
  • Shabazz Suleman fled to join Daesh in Syria as a teenager in 2014 while holidaying in Turkiye
  • Promising student claims he was ‘brainwashed’ by group, spent time playing computer games

LONDON: A British man has been jailed after spending three years fighting with Daesh in Syria.

Shabazz Suleman, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, had been a promising student in the UK, having recently completed his high school exams and been accepted onto a course to study at Keele University before he disappeared while on a family holiday in Turkiye in 2014.

He was detained by Turkish forces trying to cross into Syria, before being exchanged as part of a prisoner swap with Daesh in return for two Turkish diplomats.

Suleman, who was 18 at the time, styled himself as the “Jihadi Hipster,” a moniker he used on social media site Twitter. Adopting the name Abu Shamil Al-Britani, he became “disillusioned” with life under Daesh within a year, claiming the group targeted other Muslims and used its fighters as “cannon fodder.”

Ten months into his stay he was jailed by the group in Raqqa for refusing to fight. He was later released after agreeing to join Daesh’s security wing Amniyat.

Suleman was captured again by Turkish-backed forces in October 2017, and later traveled to Pakistan. He returned to the UK in 2021, where he was detained.

Suleman pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism in April, and was sentenced to life with a minimum of nine-and-a-half years.

During his trial he claimed he spent most of his time with Amniyat playing computer games, but Judge Mark Lucraft KC said he must have known he was “supporting a terrorist organization that engaged in indiscriminate violence against civilians.”

The court heard that after joining an aid convoy to Syria in 2013, he told a friend he wanted to “go deeper where it’s more dangerous,” and that he had been visited by local police when his trip to the country was revealed.

He celebrated the deaths of journalists at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 on Twitter, and also detailed his life under Daesh, as well as posting an image of an alleged spy who was beheaded and crucified by the group. In another message he claimed he wanted to “behead some Americans.”

After disappearing on holiday, Suleman contacted his family to tell them: “I’m doing this for Allah, no one else. I’m not brainwashed or anything. I’ve been planning this for months.”

In 2015 he told journalists at The Times he had become “disillusioned” and was “brainwashed,” adding: “I found myself falling for the propaganda of (Daesh). Eventually, I no longer knew who I was.”

After he was captured in 2017, he told Sky News: “I take responsibility. I was with (Daesh), I was with a terrorist organization. But I didn’t kill anyone, I hope I didn’t oppress anyone. I did have a Kalashnikov and a military uniform, but I didn’t hit anyone.”

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said: “It is clear from the evidence that the defendant fully appreciated before he set off that he would be joining and supporting a terrorist organization which engaged in indiscriminate violence against civilians.

“He was warned not to go, due to the danger, and was told that there was a risk to his life as a UK national. He thus knew very well before traveling how harshly (Daesh) would treat foreigners who did not support (it), and in particular how it treated non-believers.”


Putin won’t make peace in Ukraine before 2024 US election -US official

Putin won’t make peace in Ukraine before 2024 US election -US official
Updated 13 sec ago
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Putin won’t make peace in Ukraine before 2024 US election -US official

Putin won’t make peace in Ukraine before 2024 US election -US official
BRUSSELS: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not make peace in Ukraine before he knows the results of the November 2024 US election, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday, amid concerns that a potential victory for former President Donald Trump could upend Western support for Kyiv.
Trump, who is seeking reelection in 2024 and is the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has been sharply critical of US support for Kyiv.
A senior official briefing reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels said the alliance reiterated its support for Ukraine knowing that a peace agreement in the next year is unlikely.
“My expectation is that Putin won’t make a peace or a meaningful peace before he sees the result of our election,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the outcomes of the meeting.
Asked whether they were expressing a personal opinion or the view of the US government, the official said it was a “widely shared premise.”
“That was the context in which the allies all expressed strong support for Ukraine” in the NATO meeting on Tuesday, the official added, without mentioning Trump by name or explicitly saying how the election result would affect support for Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has given massive military aid and other support to Kyiv since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, but additional funding for Ukraine is being held up by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month invited Trump, who has said he could end the war in 24 hours if reelected, to Ukraine to see the scale of the conflict for himself.

Hundreds remember Tanzanian student killed in Israel-Hamas conflict

Hundreds remember Tanzanian student killed in Israel-Hamas conflict
Updated 28 November 2023
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Hundreds remember Tanzanian student killed in Israel-Hamas conflict

Hundreds remember Tanzanian student killed in Israel-Hamas conflict
  • Clemence Felix Mtenga, 22, was reported missing after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel on October 7
  • Family members — wearing black shirts bearing Mtenga’s picture — broke down as they filed past the closed coffin

DAR ES SALAAM: Hundreds of Tanzanians bid a tearful farewell on Tuesday to a young agriculture student who was killed in the Hamas-Israel conflict several thousand kilometers away.
Clemence Felix Mtenga, 22, was reported missing after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel on October 7, killing a reported 1,200 people and taking scores more hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Family members — wearing black shirts bearing Mtenga’s picture — broke down as they filed past the closed coffin at a ceremony in his home village of Kirwa in the Mount Kilimanjaro region.
Mtenga and another Tanzanian student, Joshua Mollel, 21, went to Israel in September for an agricultural internship program but both went missing after the October 7 attack.
Tanzania’s foreign ministry confirmed his death in a statement last week, without elaborating on how he was killed, and said Mollel was still missing.
Friends who studied with Mtenga before he moved to Israel described him as being “lovely and friendly.”
“It was sad and difficult to accept news of his death because we used to communicate with him almost every evening,” said Anthony Kanyanza.
“He was a leader of one of the class groups and we all enjoyed his company.”
A member of the local choir, Mtenga had been due to graduate from his university in Tanzania last week.
“Clemence died innocent. Let’s keep Israel and Palestine in our prayers every day to end this kind of innocent deaths,” said priest Alfred Minja who led the burial service attended by government officials.
The head of Israel’s international development agency Eynat Shlein had said on X, formerly Twitter, that Mtenga “was murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct 7.”
The two students were among about 260 Tanzanian youths who went to Israel for an internship in modern farming under a partnership program between the two countries.
Many of the places worst affected by the Hamas attacks were Israeli agricultural communes lining the region bordering the Gaza Strip.
Mtenga’s sister Christina Mtenga told AFP by phone that they had paid their “final respects.”


Authorities face calls to declare a hate crime in Vermont shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent

Authorities face calls to declare a hate crime in Vermont shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent
Updated 28 November 2023
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Authorities face calls to declare a hate crime in Vermont shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent

Authorities face calls to declare a hate crime in Vermont shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent
  • Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested and held without bail on three counts of attempted murder
  • The US Department of Justice, along with Vermont authorities, are still investigating whether Saturday’s gunfire on a Burlington street was a hate crime

BURLINGTON, USA: Vigils for three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot in Vermont over the weekend prompted calls for authorities to recognize the violence as a hate crime, and for unity among the Jewish and Arab communities.
Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested and held without bail on three counts of attempted murder. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf on Monday.
The US Department of Justice, along with Vermont authorities, are still investigating whether Saturday’s gunfire on a Burlington street was a hate crime amid an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the US since the Israel-Hamas war began, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “There is understandable fear in communities across the country,” he said.
One vigil was held Monday night at Brown University in Rhode Island, where one of the victims, Hisham Awartani, is a student. Participants shouted at school president Christina Paxson as she addressed the crowd, demanding that Brown divest from investments that support Israel, according to media reports.
Robert Leikend, New England regional director for the American Jewish Committee, called for unity and finding common ground between the Jewish and Arab communities, saying in a statement Monday night that “hate should not beget more hate.”
He said a vigil after Eaton’s arrest “featured anti-Israel and antisemitic statements from some participants.” He didn’t name the location.
“The anger is understandable. The finger-pointing is not,” he said.
The vigil at Brown was closed to media. NBC News reported that Awartani said in a statement read by a professor that as much as he appreciates the love and support of the community, “I am but one casualty in a much wider conflict.”
The statement read, “Had I been shot in the West Bank, where I grew up, the medical services which saved my life here would have likely been withheld by the Israeli army. The soldier who would have shot me would go home and never be convicted.”
Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, all age 20, were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington, and were out for a walk while visiting one of the victims’ relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said. The victims were speaking in a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were also wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when they were shot, Police Chief Jon Murad said.
Abdalhamid told police he ran away, jumped a fence, and hid behind a house. He eventually knocked on another door, begging the woman who answered to call 911. At that point, he sat down, felt pain, and saw blood, according to an affidavit.
Two of the students were struck in their torsos, while one was hit in the lower body, Murad said. All three were being treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and one faces a long recovery because of a spinal injury, a family member said.
One of the students has been released from the hospital, according to media reports.
“I’ve been with them almost constantly since Saturday evening. I’ve been listening to them talk to one another and try to process the events, and I’m blown away by their resilience, by their good humor in the face of these difficult times,” said Rich Price, Awartani’s uncle.
The three have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank, and all are “remarkable, distinguished students,” said Rania Ma’ayeh, head of the school.
Awartani is studying mathematics and archaeology at Brown; Abdalhamid is a pre-med student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Ali Ahmad is studying mathematics and IT at Trinity College in Connecticut, Ma’ayeh said. Awartani and Abdalhamid are US citizens while Ali Ahmad is studying on a student visa, Ma’ayeh said.
Abdalhamid’s uncle Radi Tamimi, said at a news conference Monday his nephew grew up in the West Bank and “we always thought that that could be more of a risk in terms of his safety and sending him here would be a right decision.
“We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here and we’re just trying to come to terms with everything,” he said.
Eaton moved to Burlington over the summer from Syracuse, New York, and legally purchased the gun used in the shooting, Murad told reporters. According to a police affidavit, federal agents found the gun in Eaton’s apartment on Sunday. Eaton came to the door holding his hands, palms up, and told the officers he’d been waiting for them.
Eaton’s mother, Mary Reed, told the Daily Beast that Eaton, who had held various jobs as a farmer, ski instructor and researcher, had struggled with mental health issues, including depression. But she said he was in “such a good mood” when she saw him on Thanksgiving.
Syracuse police said Eaton’s name appeared in 37 police reports from 2007 until 2021, but never as a suspect. The cases ranged from domestic violence to larceny, and Eaton was listed as either a complainant or victim in 21 reports, according to Lt. Matthew Malinowski, the department’s public information officer.
Sarah George, state’s attorney, said that law enforcement officials do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime charge, which under Vermont law must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But, she said, “I do want to be clear that there is no question that this was a hateful act.”
Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the US have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was set to continue for two more days past Monday as 11 more hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza under what was originally a four-day truce deal.


Ukraine says wife of spymaster Budanov was poisoned

Ukraine says wife of spymaster Budanov was poisoned
Updated 28 November 2023
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Ukraine says wife of spymaster Budanov was poisoned

Ukraine says wife of spymaster Budanov was poisoned
  • “Yes, I can confirm the information, unfortunately, it is true,” GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Reuters
  • The 37-year-old has himself been the target of several attempts on his life, including a botched car bombing

KYIV: The wife of Ukraine’s military spy chief has been poisoned with heavy metals and is undergoing treatment in a hospital, a spokesperson for the agency said on Tuesday.
Marianna Budanova is the wife of Kyrylo Budanov, who heads Ukrainian military intelligence agency GUR, which has been prominently involved in clandestine operations against Russian forces since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“Yes, I can confirm the information, unfortunately, it is true,” GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Reuters, without clarifying when the poisoning took place.
The BBC’s Ukrainian service cited Yusov as saying that several GUR officials had also experienced milder symptoms of poisoning.
Budanov’s public profile has risen in Ukraine and the West, where he is portrayed as a behind-the-scenes mastermind of operations to strike back at Russia. In Russian media he is a hate figure.
The 37-year-old has himself been the target of several attempts on his life, including a botched car bombing.
If confirmed as deliberate, the purported poisoning of his wife would represent the most serious targeting of a high-profile Ukrainian leadership figure’s family member during the 21-month-long war.
The poisoning was first reported by Ukrainian media outlets.
One publication, Babel, cited an unidentified source who said Budanova had been in hospital, and was finishing a course of treatment for the effects of the poisoning.
Another outlet, Ukrainska Pravda, cited an unidentified source who said the poison was likely administered through food.
Moscow has previously blamed Ukrainian secret services for the murders of a pro-war Russian blogger and a pro-war journalist on Russian soil. Ukraine denies involvement in those deaths.
Separately, Russian media has reported that a court in Moscow had arrested Budanov in absentia in April on terrorism charges.


Ukraine says Russian shells hit private homes, four killed

Ukraine says Russian shells hit private homes, four killed
Updated 28 November 2023
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Ukraine says Russian shells hit private homes, four killed

Ukraine says Russian shells hit private homes, four killed
  • “A 63-year-old man was killed. Two women, aged 65 and 63, were injured,” Dnipropetrovsk region governor Serhiy Lysak said

KYIV: Russian shells struck a residential building and private houses on Tuesday, killing four and injuring at least five people, local Ukrainian officials said.
A five-story building was hit in the morning in the southern town of Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region governor Serhiy Lysak said.
“A 63-year-old man was killed. Two women, aged 65 and 63, were injured. There may be people under the rubble,” he said on Telegram messenger.
In a separate attack in the afternoon, Russian shelling destroyed at least five private houses in a northern settlement just on the border with Russia, Sumy regional prosecutors reported.
Two bodies have been recovered from the rubble, and a 7-year-old girl died in hospital after a car she was in came under fire, the prosecutors said on Telegram. Three people have been injured.
Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians although many have been killed in its frequent air strikes.