Twisted terror group are ‘radicalising youngsters while posing as charity workers’
Former Manchester United steward given life sentence for murder of respected imam
TERRORIST sympathisers are posing as charity workers to help radicalise youngsters in Rochdale, says the son of a respected religious leader.
Saleh Al Arif, whose father was murdered by ISIS supporters, issued the startling warning after a former Manchester United steward was handed a life sentence for helping kill Jalal Uddin.
Mohammed Syeedy, 21, is a supporter of ISIS and conspired to kill Mr Uddin, 71, who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in a children’s play area in the town last February.
“I spoke to some members of the community,” said Mr Al Arif who described his father as the ‘best dad in the world’.
“They are really worried about IS supporters. They believe there are a lot of supporters in the Bengali community.
"From the outside, it’s like they are doing something good, charitable work and other things. They believe they are just trying to make a good impression and they are radicalising the young people in the community and they simply don’t want to see that.
"They are very scared and they believe they have some kind of link with IS. They just want to get rid of it and they want help from the police.”
Mr Al Arif, who was speaking to the , believes others knew his father’s attack was going to happen but failed to act.
“Someone should be keeping an eye on these people,” he warned. “It should be investigated properly.”
Syeedy and work colleague Mohammed Kadir, 24, developed a hatred of Mr Uddin because he used a form of faith healing, called Ruqya, which they considered ‘black magic’.
Syeedy provided Kadir with the murder weapon and also acted as a getaway driver.
During the court case the prosecution heard Syeedy intentionally assisted and encouraged Kadir to attack Mr Uddin in the children’s play area in South Street, Rochdale.
Mr Uddin was returning from the nearby Jalalia Mosque when he was set upon by the murdering pair.
The whereabouts of ex-John Lewis call centre worker Kadir are unknown after he fled the country days after the attack flying to Copenhagen and then Istanbul. Police now believe he may be in Syria.
Following Syeedy’s arrest on suspicion of murdering Mr Uddin, police found a large volume of alleged ISIS-related material on various devices belonging to him at his family home.
Speaking about his father Mr AlArif added: ““He was very religious, very peaceful and very knowledgeable. He had no political views but he had strong religious views and what he believed he tried to practice it to the death.”