Join 350,000+ subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of
The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Syria: what do we know about suspected UK suicide bomber?
Abdul Waheed Majeed lived on Martyrs Avenue in former home of Sarah Payne killer Roy Whiting
THE British man suspected of carrying out a suicide bomb attack in Syria has been named as Abdul Waheed Majeed. The bomber drove a lorry packed with explosives through the walls of Aleppo prison last week, reportedly freeing hundreds of inmates.
Al-Nusra Front, a rebel group with links to al-Qaeda, named the bomber as Abu Suleiman al-Britani, which the BBC says is an alias for Majeed. Officials, however, are yet to confirm his identity, citing a lack of DNA evidence.
So what do we know about Abdul Waheed Majeed?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Majeed left his wife Tahmina, 36, and their three children, two boys aged 18 and 16, and a girl aged 12, to go to Syria six months ago. He had been in regular contact with his wife until a week before the attack, when he reportedly told his family: "If I don't contact you for a couple of days, don't worry about it, I will be in touch again." His uncle, Mohammad Jamil, has described him as a "family man" and said his wife is in a "totally confused state". His relatives are still holding out hope that it has all been a big mistake.
He lived on 'Martyrs Avenue' in Crawley
When counter terrorism officers were sent to Majeed's house in Crawley, West Sussex, they could have been forgiven for wondering if the address they had been given was a joke. The 41-year-old lived in a three-bedroom house on Martyrs Avenue. Neighbours told the local Argus newspaper that Majeed was a "pleasant chap" who helped cut back hedges and repaired a pot hole on the road. He is believed to have attended Langley Green Mosque, also on Martyrs Avenue.
Sign up for The Week’s Politics Recap newsletter
Making sense of the week's political news, delivered every Wednesday
He went to Syria on a 'humanitarian mission'
Majeed apparently left England and his job as a contractor at the Highways Agency to carry out humanitarian work in Syria. His uncle said he had never shown any signs of extremism and described him as an "extremely likeable, generous man who was motivated by his humanitarian concerns for the people of Syria". According to Arif Syed, a community leader in Crawley, Majeed had two opportunities to return home but "enjoyed it so much" that he extended his stay.
Roy Whiting once lived in his house
In a bizarre twist, it has emerged that Majeed's house was once lived in by the notorious child killer Roy Whiting. According to the Crawley News, the house belonged to the father of Whiting, who was jailed for life in December 2001 for kidnapping and murdering eight-year-old school girl Sarah Payne. Whiting moved out of the house in 2000 after a vigilante mob learned that he was being quizzed by detectives over Payne's murder and smashed windows at the house.
He was a 'mentor' for radical young people
According to the Daily Mail, Majeed was a "mentor" to radical youths who followed Al-Muhajiroun, a banned group that was founded by hate preachers Omar Bakri Muhammad and Anjem Choudary. Ahsan Ahmedi, a campaigner promoting a positive image of Islam, described the group as "aggressive" supporters of the jihad, but he said Majeed appeared to have a calming influence on them at one event last July.
