Express & Star

Friend or foe? Walsall ISIS suspect's picture evidence revealed

[gallery] Blurred photographs posing with Call of Duty video games, his own neatly-kept wardrobe, a new washing machine and even his kitchen's pots and pans.

Published

This is the picture 'evidence' supplied by ISIS terrorist suspect Sajid Aslam in a bid to prove he is not fighting for the extremist group in Syria.

The 34-year-old claims he has never stepped foot in the war-torn country – and is instead living working as a teacher in south eastern Turkey.

Contacting the Express & Star, he hopes the photographs, including one picture with his school class made up of Syrian refugees, will convince authorities of his innocence.

This would allow him to return home and even help British intelligence services in their fight against terrorism.

  • MORE: 'I'm no terrorist so let my wife go' - ISIS suspect contacts Express & Star from Turkish hideout

  • MORE: Walsall 'Caldmore Chameleon' and jihadi bride convicted over Syria terrorist network

West Midlands Police refused to comment on the email last night, saying that until his wife Lorna Moore is sentenced, the case is still 'ongoing'.

However, Walsall North MP David Winnick called for Aslam's case to be investigated by the British Consulate in Turkey, saying the authorities should take 'every precaution'.

He said: "The authorities should give the case very close attention. If he is what he claims, that presents an altogether different one.

"However, considering the murderous danger of ISIS, it is understandable every precaution is taken. We cannot expect the authorities to jump to conclusions.

"All that can happen is the consulate in Turkey needs to look at it and prepare a report.

"That would be the most sensible thing to do."

Sources have acknowledged the authenticity of the email, but a number of key questions remain about Aslam's claims:

  • If he is really in Turkey, why not picture himself with recognisable Turkish landmarks?

  • Why is there no independent third-party being made available to corroborate his story? (For instance, his employers at the school he claims to be working in)

  • Why did he leave to go to Turkey in the first place?

  • Why did he not return to the UK as soon as his wife was arrested?

  • Why was he associating with people he knew to be ISIS sympathisers?

  • Why did he not inform the authorities about his friends' intentions to fight in Syria?

  • Why does he not simply hand himself in to the British Embassy in Turkey?

  • Why was his email bugged with deeply-embedded viruses?

  • Why has he ignored Express & Star requests for more information and a Skype interview?

  • Why has he not included a phone number that he could be contacted on?

Aslam left behind his wife Lorna Moore and their three children aged 10, nine and three in Walsall two years ago – she converted to Islam after they met in 2000.

Trainee maths teacher Moore, 33, was found guilty by a jury of failing to tell authorities Aslam was poised to join Islamic State fighters.

Lorna Moore outside court

Jurors at the Old Bailey trial in February were told that Moore's husband was one of a group of friends who had left Walsall in the West Midlands to join the terrorist organisation between July and December 2014.

The court even heard how Moore planned to join him with their children in the Islamic State. But Aslam, who has been continuously monitored by MI5 and MI6, claims there is no 'no proof I am in Syria/Iraq, or any evidence linking me to any terrorist group'.

Claiming to be in fear of returning to the UK or revealing his location, he even says the 'pain' of living without his children had left him understanding why people choose to commit suicide.

And he called on the British justice system to drop charges against him and his wife.

The rambling 54-page document attached to the email hits back at the evidence held against him and his wife by British authorities.

Anwar Al Awlaki

Anwar al-Awlaki

He claims the case lies with audio lectures by Anwar Al Awlaki found at his former Walsall home in Glebe Street.

US officials claim Al Awlaki preached to three of the 9/11 hijackers and was a recruiter for al-Qaeda before his death in 2011.

Aslam said: "It is the equivalent of accusing someone of being a Nazi and wanting to murder Jews just because they happen to have a copy of Mein Kampf on their bookshelf."

Aslam reveals details of his will, he believes has been picked up by counter terrorism officers. In it, he said it was 'pre-empting my impending death from coalition air strikes or from being struck down whilst engaging in armed combat with a terrorist group'.

Responding to the will, he said: "Me writing a will is not an indication of me living in Syria or Iraq or fighting for a terrorist group. It indicates nothing more than me acknowledging that on occasions the war in Syria comes closer to Turkey than it should."

Proud to be British

Finally, Aslam states his urge to return to his home country, he adds: "I am as British as anyone could ask me to be – I am proud to be a British citizen and the British authorities have a responsibility to protect me.

"I can use my knowledge of living and working in this region and my experiences into what it is like to be a British Muslim to help the British government and authorities tackle extremism within the British Muslim community."

Aslam also sent the document to West Midlands Police, MI5 and MI6 ahead of the three-week trial earlier this year which saw his wife Moore found guilty. Since the February verdict, she has been on bail awaiting sentence.

He attended Manchester Metropolitan University, where he drank alcohol – but became a strict Muslim in his third year.

After moving to Walsall with wife Moore, he became a supply teacher in Dudley and worked as a lab assistant under a teacher training scheme at Blue Coat Church of England School in Walsall.

The jury heard how he became involved with a group of men from Walsall which planned to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS.

He flew from Stansted Airport to Gaziantep on the Turkish/Syrian border, before heading to Syria.

On his arrival in Syria, Aslam sent a coded message to his friend Ayman Shaukat, 27, in the form of a YouTube video of a song entitled I Made It by the pop band Cash Money Heroes, the court heard.

Within months, Moore had booked flights to Palma, Majorca, but her final destination was given away in a text from another couple who had embarked on a journey towards the war-ridden state saying 'see you there'.

Meanwhile, Moore had set about renting out her house, selling televisions and a car, applying for passports and visiting family in her native Belfast, Northern Ireland, the court heard.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher QC told jurors: "The plan was for Miss Moore to take the children via an innocuous destination to be reunited with their father."

But it was scuppered when members of their group were arrested by Turkish police at Gaziantep and police swooped on Moore's home.

Treated like a slave

Moore now faces a maximum prison sentence of five years. She was from Northern Ireland and brought up a protestant. She met Aslam at Manchester Metropolitan University and later converted to Islam. She claimed during the trial that Aslam treated her like a 'slave and a dog', adding the Muslim Council told her she would 'go to hell' if she did not stay with him.

Last night, a West Midlands Police spokesman said: "There is an on-going court process and we will not be issuing any statement on this."

In the dock alongside her at the trial was Shaukat, dubbed the travel agent, of Pargeter Street, Walsall. He was found guilty of helping Aslam travel from Walsall to Syria.

Shaukat was a founding member of Islam Walsall that was set up in 2012 after a group of young Sunni Muslim men became disenchanted with life in the UK.

Abu Hamza has been linked with Islam Walsall

The group had a meeting house in Bradford Lane, in Walsall. It had sympathies toward ISIS and even once hosted a Christmas Day conference with cronies of the cleric Abu Hamza.

Also with connections to the group, Kerry Thomason, 24, pleaded guilty to assisting husband Isaiah Siadatan, prepare for acts of terrorism before the trial this year.

A third man, Alex Nash, 22, of Bentley Lane, Walsall also pleaded guilty to the same charge before the trial.

Left to right: Sajid Aslam, Jacob Petty, and Isaiah Siadatan are all believed to have joined ISIS

Both Jacob Petty, the son of a church minister, of Slaney Street, Walsall, and Isaiah Siadatan were said to have travelled to Syriaa longside Aslam. Petty was killed in February last year.

Siadatan sent an email to Thomason in 2014, demanding she come to Syria with her children. He is believed to be dead.

Aslam said: "My family and myself are seen as 'guilty by association', due to nothing more than my prior acquaintance with two individuals who made the despicable decision to join ISIS, and my wife's prior acquaintance with individuals who are guilty of related offences.

"This message will highlight and prove our collective 'guilt' is a complete and total fallacy."

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