Arena bomber’s imam ‘called for jihad’

AN IMAM at the Manchester Arena bomber’s mosque apparently “called for jihad” 10 days before the attacker bought his ticket for the concert.

A recording that has been found purporting to be of an imam at the mosque attended by Salman Abedi has been interpreted by scholars.

The sermon, apparently delivered at Didsbury Mosque in Manchester, was given on Dec 16 2016, six months before Abedi detonated a suicide bomb and killed 22 at an Ariana Grande concert in the city. Abedi and his family regularly attended the mosque. Imam Mustafa Graf appears to call for military or armed jihad in the recording obtained by BBC News.

It is unclear whether Abedi attended the mosque on that day, but he is thought to have bought a ticket for the concert 10 days later.

The sermon which was delivered at the time of the bombing of Aleppo, includes prayers for “Mujahideen” – a term often used for a group fighting armed jihad abroad.

Elsewhere Mustafa Graf said: “Jihad for the sake of Allah is the source of pride and dignity for this nation”, it is claimed. In another passage he allegedly says “now it is time to act and do something”. BBC News played the audio for two Muslim scholars. “He’s giving them the narrative of them against us,” said Shaykh Rehan. “He is psychologically and practically brainwashing young people into either travelling or to do something to take action.”

Usama Hasan, head of Islamic studies at Quilliam, the counter-extremism think tank, agreed and told BBC News that “from the context and the way these texts are used they are clearly referring to military jihad, to armed jihad”. The Daily Telegraph contacted Didsbury Mosque but Mustafa Graf was unavailable for comment.