Following on from our report at the start of the week, here is part two of convicted or alleged terrorists who have got links to Buckinghamshire.
To read part one, click here: Five alleged or convicted terrorists with links to Buckinghamshire.
Number 5: Shabazz Suleman: High Wycombe
A former student at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, Shabazz Suleman joined Islamic State in May 2014 when he went on study leave for his A-Levels, which he was going to sit that summer.
In the autumn of that year, his name appeared on a list of 180 ISIS hostages being held by Turkish authorities in exchange for 49 of their diplomats.
A screenshot of Shabazz Suleman speaking to Sky News in 2017
Three years later in the autumn of 2017, Suleman, whilst speaking to Sky News, claimed that ‘four to five months into ISIS’ he ‘wanted to leave’ as the group ‘changed dramatically.’
In a 20-minute interview, he revealed that he had relocated to Raqqa in Syria in March 2017 which at the time was the capital of Islamic State, where he said he ‘rode his bike and played GTA (Grand Theft Auto) on the PlayStation 4’.
The interview with Sky News from October 30, 2017
As of February 2019, it was reported that he had been freed from detention in the Middle Eastern country, but his current whereabouts is not known.
Number 4: Iftikhar Ali: High Wycombe
Ali, who lived on Totteridge Drive in High Wycombe and worked at one of the Sainsbury’s branches in the town, was convicted of sharing Islamic State propaganda on WhatsApp following a police investigation in December 2017.
The crimes happened between September and October 2015 when Ali, who was 18 years old at the time, had sent messages glorifying acts of terrorism.
Iftikhar Ali was sentenced in January 2018
It also came out that he was friends with convicted terrorist, Taha Hussain, who was filmed driving past Windsor Castle shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘burn in hell’.
In December 2015, Ali had been identified by the Prevent team, but he failed to engage with them.
He was then arrested on March 10, 2016 over a payment of £140 via Western Union to a man in Turkey, which he claimed in police interviews was for ‘charitable purposes.’
However, after his phone was checked, it was revealed that Ali had an avid interest in IS, with material including audio files of radical preacher Anwar al Awlaki, and images of executions as well as Hussain's Windsor video.
He was jailed for three-and-a-half years for his crimes in January 2018, following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Number 3: Thomas Evans: Wooburn Green
Evans, who changed his name to Abdul Hakim following his conversion, joined the Islamist militant group al-Shabab in the early 2010s.
At the age of 21 in 2011, he revealed to his family that he was going to move to Kenya, but he was turned away by the police when he arrived at the airport.
After selling some of his possessions, he then told his family that he was travelling to Egypt.
Thomas Evans died at the age of 25 in June 2015
In August of that year, the police confirmed that they had lost track of him and in January 2012, he called his family again to reveal that he had joined al-Shabab in Somalia.
He spent three to four years in Africa and was last heard alive when fighting for the group in Kenya.
READ MORE: Mother of Thomas Evans: 'He met people with twisted, warped ideas'
Evans was reportedly killed on Sunday, June 14, 2015 at the age of 25, following a siege at a military base in the African country.
Following his death, his mum, Sally, said: “He obviously met some people with very twisted, warped ideas.
"He believed if he followed Islam, he would go to paradise, and that was what he wanted."
Number 2: Omar Hussain: High Wycombe
Hussain, who used to work as a security guard at Morrisons in High Wycombe, was once a pupil at Cressex Community School, before turning to a life of crime.
In December 2013, he successfully travelled to Syria, joined Islamic State, and became infamous for his blogs which encouraged others to join the group.
Omar Hussain reportedly died in August 2019
Hussain also appeared via video link on BBC’s Newsnight, where he claimed he would only return to the UK to ‘plant a bomb.’
READ MORE: Wycombe jihadi Omar Hussain ‘dies in ISIS suicide bombing’
His callous crimes were reported in the British and American media with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), being made aware of his actions and on September 28, 2015, he was sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council.
Hussain, who was also known as Abu Sa’eed Al-Britani, was reportedly killed in August 2019 following an ISIS suicide bomb in Raqqa, Syria.
Number 1: Assad Sarwar: High Wycombe
In a truly terrifying plot, Assad Sarwar was one of 24 people who were originally arrested in August 2006, after several transatlantic flights were targeted to be detonated with liquid explosives disguised as soft drinks.
In total, seven flights from England, with five travelling to the US and two to Canada, were targeted.
Assad Sarwar was jailed for 36 years in September 2009
After the plot was foiled by the Metropolitan Police, eight men (Ahmed Abdullah Ali, Assad Sarwar, Tanvir Hussein, Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Khan, Waheed Zaman, Umar Islam and Mohammed Gulzar) were tried in connection with the crimes in April 2008.
READ MORE: Assad Sarwar from High Wycombe convicted of jet plot
Seven months later in November 2008, the jury were unable to reach verdicts on charges relating to the plot to blow up aircraft after more than 50 hours of deliberation, but, they did find Ali, Sarwar and Hussein guilty of conspiracy to murder charges.
Mohammed Gulzar, who was one of the eight men tried, was acquitted of all charges.
Ten months later in September 2009 at Woolwich Crown Court, Sarwar, along with Ali and Hussein, were found guilty of ‘conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs’.
Sarwar was sentenced to at least 36 years behind bars for his actions.
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