British man who launched Isil suicide attack was Guantanamo Bay detainee awarded £1m compensation
A British Islamic State fighter who
carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq this week is a former Guantanamo
Bay detainee who was paid £1 million compensation by the government.
Jamal al-Harith, a Muslim convert born Ronald Fiddler who detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base near Mosul, was released from the US detention camp in 2004 and successfully claimed compensation after saying British agents knew or were complicit in his mistreatment.
He was freed following intense lobbying by Tony Blair’s Labour government.
Jamal al-Harith, a Muslim convert born Ronald Fiddler who detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base near Mosul, was released from the US detention camp in 2004 and successfully claimed compensation after saying British agents knew or were complicit in his mistreatment.
He was freed following intense lobbying by Tony Blair’s Labour government.
Al-Harith,
who used the nom de guerre Abu-Zakariya al-Britani, entered Syria via
Turkey in 2014 to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, leading to
questions at the time about the monitoring of terrorist suspects.
It also raised the possibility that compensation money paid by British taxpayers had been handed on by him to Isil.
Earlier this week Isil released an image of him sitting inside the bomb car grinning broadly, with wires and what may be a detonation button in the background.
A statement released by the terrorist group said: “The martyrdom-seeking brother Abu Zakariya al-Britani - may Allah accept him - detonated his explosives-laden vehicle on a headquarters of the Rafidhi army and its militias in Tal Kisum village, southwest of Mosul.”
It also raised the possibility that compensation money paid by British taxpayers had been handed on by him to Isil.
Earlier this week Isil released an image of him sitting inside the bomb car grinning broadly, with wires and what may be a detonation button in the background.
A statement released by the terrorist group said: “The martyrdom-seeking brother Abu Zakariya al-Britani - may Allah accept him - detonated his explosives-laden vehicle on a headquarters of the Rafidhi army and its militias in Tal Kisum village, southwest of Mosul.”
Posts
