Disabled jihadi who came here for NHS care... ‘then used UK as terrorist base’
‘Intended to join fighting’
A DISABLED terrorist came to Britain for NHS treatment then used his jihadi contacts to send UK fighters to Islamic State, a court heard yesterday.
Abdalraouf Abdallah, 24, had been left paralysed from the waist down when he was shot fighting Colonel Gadd- afi’s regime in Libya in 2011, jurors were told.
After coming to the UK for treatment, he then acted as a communications hub to help jihadis join IS while he was confined to a wheelchair and living in Manchester with family, the Old Bailey heard.
As a result of his help, Abdalra- ouf’s brother Mohammed, who is accused of terrorist charges, along with Nezar Khalifa, 27, and Raymond Matimba, 28, all managed to sneak into Syria and join IS, the court was told.
He also arranged for Mohammed, who also lived in Manchester, to collect £2,000 and a Russian machine gun while he was en route to Syria, it was alleged.
The Old Bailey heard that the group were set to meet up with Stephen Gray, 34, a former RAF pilot who converted to Islam after a tour of duty in Iraq, but Gray was refused entry to Turkey and returned home to Manchester.
Mark Heywood, QC, prosecuting, said Mohammed and Khalifa disguised their destination by travelling via Libya, reaching Syria by July 2014. ‘The central and focal point of their plans and communications was this defendant’s brother, Abdalraouf Abdallah,’ he said.
Jurors heard that Abdalraouf, who used Skype and encrypted messaging apps to contact his brother, was arrested at home in Moss Side, Manchester, in November 2014. Gray was arrested a month later. Mohammed was arrested when he returned to the UK in September last year.
He is accused of one count of being a member of Islamic State, one count of possessing a firearm for terrorist purpose and one count of possessing £2,000 for terrorist purposes.
Mr Heywood said: ‘Once in Syria, it i s perfectly clear that the four intended to join the fighting in Syria. As private citizens they had no business whatsoever in doing so.
‘The activities that this defendant and the other three had in mind unquestionably amounted to terrorism in the eyes of the law.’
In 2011, Mohammed and his brother were living with their family on the outskirts of Tripoli when they joined the armed revolution against the Gaddafi regime, the court heard. Abdalraouf – then aged 17 – was shot and seriously wounded and travelled to Britain for treatment later that year.
‘From that time he lived with members of his family at home in Manchester,’ Mr Heywood said. ‘He is paralysed from the waist down and is confined to a wheelchair.
‘That fact helps in understanding his role in the events that relate to this defendant, his brother, and the limits of the action he could take.
‘Much of the case involves the relationship between the two and their communications.’
A dual British-Libyan national, Mohammed had lived in Britain for years but had ‘reached a point in his life where he made a choice’, Mr Heywood said.
‘That choice was to travel to Syria and there engage i n physical support for those waging war, to join the violence.’
Mohammed Abdallah, of Moss Side, Manchester, denies all the counts. The trial continues.