Texas synagogue hostage-taker Malik Faisal Akram was radicalised by Pakistan in 2020, top intelligence sources have told CNN-News18. The 44-year-old British national, who demanded the release of jailed Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui with suspected al-Qaeda ties, was shot dead by authorities following a 10-hour siege in the small town of Colleyville last weekend. The four hostages including a rabbi were freed unharmed.
Malik Faisal spent six months in Pakistan in 2020 and came back to the United Kingdom, the intelligence sources said.
On debriefing, he was checked and all suspicious content with him was downloaded by British security agency MI5. The investigation lasted four weeks.
The real purpose of the MI5 probe, sources said, was to know the person after six months in Pakistan.
Faisal was the head of the Rondell street Islamic Centre Reza Masjid, where largely Muslims of Pakistani origin prayed.
According to intelligence sources, his family migrated to the United Kingdom 50 years ago and he is originally from Pakistan’s Jhelum district. Faisal visited Pakistan 11 times between 2007 and 2020, they added.
He was a member of the Sunni Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat and travelled about in connection with that, said the sources.
He was convicted three times in the past for various crimes but was allowed entry in the US despite that, they added.
He was possibly groomed for a bigger task and exposed fast, said the intelligence sources, adding that his footprints are very similar to that of 2008 Mumbai attacks conspirator David Coleman Headley, with many years of research and presence in several countries.
“We are looking to probe any visits made by him to India or any connection activated by him that may be active right now,” said the sources. “We can’t rule out anything with his worldwide travel and his connections; he has many active cells across the globe. His entry to the UK and US is strange.”
Faisal’s stay in Pakistan in 2020 was his longest and possibly this was the period, the sources said, in which he was trained for terror activities.
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