Our shock at suicide bomber claims

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OUR SHOCK
AT SUICIDE
BOMBER
CLAIMS
STRIKEN:
Mohammad
Jamil, uncle of
alleged bomber
Abdul Waheed
Majeed
by GARETH DAVIES
[email protected]
A FAMILY have spoken
of their shock at suggestions a father-of-three
was the first British
suicide bomber in Syria.
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The Argus, Thursday, February 13, 2014
WORLD in BRIEF
Report reveals ‘chaos’
of plane’s evacuation
THE scenes after a Virgin
Atlantic emergency landing, with
passengers colliding at the
bottom of escape chutes, have
been described by air accident
investigators.
Some passengers from the
Virgin Airbus A330 aircraft fell
on the Tarmac at Gatwick
Airport, with two being seriously
injured, said the report from the
Air Accidents Investigation
Branch (AAIB).
The report showed that the
emergency landing and the
subsequent evacuation –
leading to flights at Gatwick
being suspended for two hours
– had come after a faulty smoke
detector generated “multiple
spurious” smoke warnings.
The first of these warnings had
come 15 minutes into the flight
from Gatwick to Orlando in
Florida on the morning of April
16, 2012, with 13 crew and
304 passengers aboard. There
were 15 warnings in all and the
captain decided to return to
Gatwick. But after the landing, a
subsequent inspection of the
aircraft found no evidence of
fire, smoke or heat.
Immediately after the incident,
passengers had told of
“complete chaos” on board and
“mayhem” as travellers piled on
top of each other at the bottom
of the emergency chutes, with
15 people being taken to
hospital.
In its report, the AAIB said the
evacuation had “come as a
surprise to the cabin crew”.
The report went on: “Many
passengers were seen to land
awkwardly at the bottom of the
slide and one lady was
observed to fall on to the
Tarmac, after which passengers
following collided into her.”
The AAIB made a number of
safety recommendations,
including calling for visual aids
to show passengers, including
those with young children, how
to use escape devices.
Cars recalled
Fitness failure
TOYOTA is recalling nearly
31,000 UK-registered cars
because of a computer problem
that could cause them to stop.
The recall affects the hybrid
ultra-green Prius model and
involves 30,970 of the UKregistered cars manufactured
between March 2009 and
February 2014.
The company said there had
been 11 incidents in Europe of
the computer problem but there
had been no accidents or
injuries. Toyota added that the
issue would not occur in the
company's other hybrid vehicles
as these used different
systems.
HUNDREDS of police officers
have failed fitness tests since
they became compulsory, figures
have shown.
More than one in 50 of the
candidates who have undergone
testing since the autumn have
failed to make the grade, and
two-thirds of those who did not
pass were women.
Compulsory fitness testing was
introduced last September, and
for the first year officers who fail
will not face any punitive
measures.
From September this year, those
who fail three times will face
disciplinary action.
Singer denies assault charge
SINGER Tulisa Contostavlos has denied
an assault charge linked to claims that
she punched a blogger at a music
festival.
The 25-year-old appeared at Chelmsford
Magistrates’ Court in Essex, where she
was facing one count of common
assault. Her assistant, Gareth Varey, is
accused of threatening behaviour, which
he also denies.
The singer’s spokesman, Simon Jones,
said that she and Varey “both look
forward to demonstrating their
innocence at the forthcoming trial”.
Date set for US bombing trial
A JUDGE has set a November
trial date for Boston Marathon
bombing suspect Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev.
Judge George O’Toole Jr told the
US District Court that he has
set the trial for November 3.
Several of the 260 people
injured in the terrorist attack
were in the courtroom for the
hearing but Tsarnaev was not.
His lawyers had asked for a trial
date no earlier than September
2015. Prosecutors want the
trial this autumn.
They allege that 20-year-old
Tsarnaev and his brother,
Tamerlan, planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs
near the marathon’s finish line
last April. Tamerlan Tsarnaev
died following a shootout with
police.
Prosecutors announced last
month they will seek the death
penalty against Tsarnaev, who
has pleaded not guilty to 30
federal counts.
>>> WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>>> your NEWS
by GARETH DAVIES
gareth.davies
@theargus.co.uk
A FAMILY has been left
devastated amid suggestions a father-of-three is
the first British suicide
bomber in Syria.
Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41,
had lived in Sussex for many
years before leaving on an aid
mission to the war-torn country in August.
At about 9.30am yesterday,
counter-terrorism
officers
raided his home in Crawley –
which was once where notorious child murderer Roy Whiting lived.
And yesterday afternoon,
his uncle Mohammad Jamil,
65, said the shocked family
were “in bits”.
Mr Majeed lived with his
two boys aged 18 and 16 as well
as his 12-year-old daughter in
the semi-detached house in
Martyrs Avenue, Langley
Green.
He was born and raised in
Crawley, attending Hazelwick
School as a boy.
Mr Jamil said: “He’s a downto-earth family man, spent a
lot of time with family, his
wife and his kids and has
always been a hard-working
and well-liked person.
“He’s a very, very jolly and
likeable man – you can ask
anybody in Crawley.
“He just wanted to go out
there and do his bit.”
It is unknown exactly what
Mr Majeed’s charity work
entailed, but it is believed he
was using his expertise in
transport construction to
help.
Mr Jamil said his nephew
held an HGV licence and drove
a large truck on a regular
basis with his work, which
included construction work
on the A23.
He also said that his family
would be the first to know if
he had shown any signs of
extremism or fundamentalism.
He added: “If we knew
about this, we wouldn’t have
let him go. If I had a suspicion
that he had become radicalised I wouldn’t be standing
here talking about him.”
Arif Syed, an Islamic community leader in Crawley,
added Mr Majeed was usually
in contact with his family
daily by phone or Skype, but
communication was lost with
him about seven days ago.
In his last communication
Mr Majeed told his family he
was moving camps and it was
possible that he would not
have a signal, but he was fine.
Talking of the state of Mr
Majeed’s wife, Mr Syed said:
“She has gone through several
stages.
“When the people started to
believe that this was him,
she went through the
process of bereavement.
Then when we were given
the news that it was
unconfirmed, she was
delighted.
“She’s in a completely
confused state – she
Shock over
claims dad
of three
was suicide
bomber
doesn’t know what to believe
and what not to believe.”
Mr Syed also said Mr Majeed
missed two opportunities to
return to the UK, the last in
early January.
He said: “He enjoyed it so
much and he extended his
period of stay.”
Mr Syed, 59, said he hoped
to learn that Mr Majeed was
not behind the attack in
Aleppo.
He said: “We have got our
hopes high. We are praying
that he will walk through the
door. It’s a good possibility
that he’s still alive and well,
and is just not communicating.
“We live with this
hope until the authori-
Mohammad Jamil,
uncle of Abdul
Waheed Majeed
ties confirm, or we get eye-witnesses that say it was him.
“We strongly hope and
believe that he is alive and
well, and that he will join his
family.”
Officers are investigating
whether Mr Majeed was a UK
jihadi using the name Abu
Suleiman al-Britani, who carried out the deadly bombing.
Abu Suleiman al-Britani is
said to have driven a lorry into
a jail in Aleppo and detonated
a bomb last week, and is
thought to be the first Briton
to stage a suicide attack in
Syria.
The family is
upset
that
police carried
out the raid
without
prior warning, when
they
say
they were fully co-operative.
Mr Majeedwas as a member
of Langley Green Mosque as
well as Broadfield Mosque,
both in Crawley. He volunteered regularly at both.
Neighbours said lots of people had been seen going in and
out of the house looking as if
they were mourning in the
past week.
Two convoys of 11 people
have been sent by Mr Syed’s
community group to Syria
since July last year.
Nearly £80,000 worth of
medical supplies, equipment
and other gifts were taken in
six ambulances to Syria, via
the Turkish border. It is
understood that there, one of
the 11 members met Mr
Majeed and reported back to
the Islamic community in
Crawley about the good work
he was carrying out.
All 11 returned from Syria,
and to Mr Syed’s knowledge,
Mr Majeed is the only Crawley
man not to have returned
from the Middle East.
He added: “Six weeks or
eight weeks is long enough,
and I was quite disappointed
not to see him come back on
this convoy. But sometimes
people have got to do what
they have got to do, and maybe
he thought staying there and
helping people was what he
had to do.”
Mr Majeed did not leave in
either of the two convoys, but
Mr Syed is aware of other
groups that have left from
Crawley since then.
Let us know at www.theargus.co.uk/opinion
The Argus, Thursday, February 13, 2014
5
For more information visit www.theargus.co.uk/news
Police plea to
bus passengers
POLICE investigating the rape of a
woman have appealed for bus
passengers to come forward.
The woman caught the number
seven Brighton and Hove Bus and
Coach Company bus in Upper Rock
Gardens, Kemp Town, Brighton,
after being attacked during the
early hours of New Year’s Day.
She became visibly distressed
while on the bus at 7am and the
driver pulled over, stopping in
Eastern Road and waiting until the
police arrived.
Police want any other passengers
on the same bus to come forward,
as they could be key witnesses to
the aftermath of the attack.
Ali Badaru, 22, of Atlingworth
Street, Brighton, was arrested the
following day and charged with
raping the woman in Brighton. He
is due to appear at Lewes Crown
Court on March 21.
Treat for foodies
Police outside Majeed’s house in Martyrs Avenue, Langley Green, Crawley. Inset, Abdul Waheed Majeed
The mosque, right, attended by Abdul Waheed Majeed who
is alleged to have blown himself up in a suicide attack in
Syria, above
When news emerged about
the suicide bombing in Syria,
the family of Mr Majeed – who
is of Pakistani descent –
started to panic, Mr Syed said.
He said: “They started getting really worried as he hadn’t been in contact. Also, what
happened over the weekend
started alarm bells.
“We had a meeting with
agencies, including the local
authority and the police, yesterday. They told us that they
couldn’t confirm through all
their intelligence and sources
that it is this man or not.
“As far as we are concerned,
the man reported on the internet and social media is Abu
Suleiman al-Britani.
“We have a very close community in Crawley and it is a
very diverse town. We don’t
recognise that name. We have
asked every member of our
community if they recognised
this name and they don’t.”
Neighbour Nita Bateman
said Roy Whiting, who murdered eight-year-old Sarah
Payne in 2000 in West Sussex,
used to live at the house.
Ms Bateman, 55, expressed
shock at the revelations that
the house could have been
used by a suicide bomber,
describing Mr Majeed as a
“pleasant chap”.
She said: “When I became
very ill, he was always willing
to help, and he would do my
neighbour’s hedges.
“I’m beginning to wonder
whether it’s something to do
with that house.”
>>> WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Community leader Arif Syed,
front, and Mohammad Jamil
Let us know at www.theargus.co.uk/opinion
TOP chefs will be cooking up a
storm for food lovers as a culinary
festival comes to Brighton.
Great British Bake Off winner John
Whaite, MasterChef: The
Professionals 2013 winner Steven
Edwards and MasterChef finalists
Larkin Cen and Dale Williams will
all be in attendance for the
Foodies Festival.
The event will be held at Brighton
Hove Lawns from May 3 to 5.