Speculation is rife that the new ‘Jihadi John’ is none other than British-raised Abu Rumaysah, also known as Siddhartha Dhar, a man closely linked to UK hate preacher Anjem Choudary, and with a long history of Islamic state activism in the United Kingdom.
In 2014, just after the launch of Breitbart London, we exposed a new, pro-Islamic Caliphate group in London which was targeting university campuses. Their spokesman was none other than Abu Rumaysah – the same person to be in charge of the East London based “Muslim Patrols” when I first broke the story in January 2013.
But Mr. Dhar has been on the scene a lot longer than you might imagine. He’s not just Jihad-Johnny-Come-Lately, and while still unconfirmed, if he is indeed the new Jihadi John, it would appear that his efforts over the years have been rewarded.
He is the author of ‘A Brief Guide to the Islamic State’, an ebook released last year which propagandises on behalf of the murderous, terrorist, death-cult and now people are drawing parallels between his voice and speech patterns and that of the new ISIS chief executioner in their now-infamous beheading videos.
Mr. Dhar – a Muslim convert who was formerly a Hindu of Indian descent – has studied under and alongside the likes of Mr. Choudary for at least the past decade. He has been pictured alongside Mr. Choudary at a high number of al Muhajiroun, Islam4UK, Shariah4UK, Muslims Against Crusades, and Need4Khilafah events over the years – all of which are the same group with different names.
All of the above groups can find their roots in Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect groups which were proscribed in Britain in the early 2000s. Their founder and leader was Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Salafist extremist responsible for the rise of pro-caliphate groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Muhajiroun.
And Mr. Dhar clearly went from being a student of Messrs Choudary and Bakri Mohammed to perhaps even eclipsing them as figures in the world of the Islamic Caliphate.
In 2013 it was reported that Mr. Dhar – by then routinely referred to as Abu Rumaysah – was running a group called “Convert2Islam” which targeted young, disaffected youths in predominantly black areas of South London.
Mr. Dhar happily revealed at the time that he knew Michael Adebolajo – the terrorist killer of the British soldier Lee Rigby who was murdered on the streets of South London. Mr. Dhar called Mr. Adebolajo ‘Mujahid’ – or someone that is engaged in jihad. Mr. Adebolajo had been in attendance at events jointly hosted by left wing groups such as Unite Against Fascism and al Muhajiroun prior to killing Mr. Rigby.
He has been filmed in long, anti-Western, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic rants where he lauds Adolf Hitler and claims the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” – a long discredited hoax, is the founding document of the State of Israel. He says: “It’s not just the Muslims who know about it… there are other people as well who are aware… and they did things to stop it. Like Adolf Hitler. He was someone who read up on this thing… and obviously we all know what he did”.
In another video, Mr. Dhar can be seen speaking at length about strip clubs in the United Kingdom, and proclaims that under a Shariah-compliant Britain, Buckingham Palace would be turned into a mega mosque.
Mr. Dhar has been given a platform on flagship news and discussion programmes by Britain’s state-funded broadcaster, the BBC, and by Channel 4 and Al Jazeera in recent years.
He, Mr. Choudary, and seven colleagues were all arrested on suspicion of terrorist activities in September 2014, and were placed on bail until trial. But after being released on bail, Mr. Dhar and his pregnant wife fled Britain, arriving in Islamic State controlled Syria a few weeks later.
The timing – if Mr. Dhar’s is indeed the the new Jihadi John – is perhaps even more intriguing when you consider that his mentor, Mr. Choudary, is due to stand trial in the United Kingdom this month.
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