‘If he’s part of it, my son deserves everything he gets’
Father of 22-year-old jihadi suspect vows:
THE father of the terror suspect pictured being arrested on a housing estate by armed police yesterday said the 22-year-old ‘deserves what he gets’ – if he was involved in the Manchester plot.
Ayub Elshetwi was held after being Tasered following a chase through his home town of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on Wednesday – just months after he is believed to have returned to the UK from Libya.
Yesterday his father, who fled the North African country more than 20 years ago to escape Colonel Gaddaffi’s brutal regime, condemned the suicide bombing which claimed 22 lives, but denied son Ayub could have been radicalised.
Speaking from the semi-detached family home in Nuneaton, father-offive Naser said: ‘There is no proof at the moment he has done anything wrong. He has never been in trouble before. I cannot believe he would do something so bad. I feel awful about the attacks. I have children of my own. Ayub has never showed any strong Islamic views. I don’t see how he could have been radicalised.’
The builder said he was unaware of links between his son and suicide bomber Salman Adebi, adding: ‘He’s never even been to Manchester. If he did do it he deserves what he gets.’
Earlier this year, Mr Elshetwi spoke to his local newspaper about being shot in Libya in January 2016 during a violent kidnap attempt. He had twice returned to the country to help with building projects, having been granted British citizenship under former Home Secretary David Blunkett’s amnesty for families seeking asylum. Upon arrival in the UK, he moved to Nuneaton with his wife, where they had five children. Ayub attended Higham Lane secondary school, where fellow former pupils remember him as a westernised teenager who was a troublemaker. One source told the Mail that Ayub moved to Libya at 16, and only returned earlier this year. She added: ‘He had completely changed. He had grown a beard and was now wearing long flowing clothes, instead of the jeans and trainers he used to wear.’