Jamal al-Harith
Jamal al-Harith was a citizen of the United Kingdom.[1] He was one of 18 men from the United Kingdom who were held in the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camps. Al-Harith was one of nine men from that group who were citizens of the United Kingdom, and he was one of the first four to be released, in 2004, because he had been determined to not have had any ties to terrorism, after all.
Al-Harith travelled to Syria, where he volunteered to be a fighter for the Daesh militia group, which occupied a large portion of Syria, for a time, where they administered a defacto state, sometimes known as "The Islamic State".[1]
Commentators claim he was only radicalized after his release from Guantanamo.[1]
Al-Harith had married UK citizen Shukee Begum, after his return to the UK.[1] The pair had five children together. Begum describes choosing to follow al-Harith, in an unsuccessful attempt to convince him to defect.[2] After a long ordeal, she was able to defect, with her children.[3]
Al-Harith was killed in combat prior to the final collapse of the last Daesh enclave.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nicola Harley (2015-10-09). "Former Guantanamo detainee has left UK to join Isil: Security services did not stop Jamal Al Harif from leaving the country". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2019-03-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190308020441/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11923600/Former-Guantanamo-detainee-has-left-UK-to-join-Isil.html. Retrieved 2022-11-21. "Al Harif was one of four men to be released from the camp in 2004. On his release, former home secretary David Blunkett said the detainees being released 'posed no threat' to the British people."
- ↑ Kate Ferguson (2015-09-23). "British woman Shukee Begum who fled Isis with her five children rescued by Syria rebels: Shukee Begum travelled to Syria with her children to find her husband". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2017-06-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20170621031628/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/british-woman-shukee-begum-who-fled-isis-with-her-five-children-rescued-by-syria-rebels-10513564.html. Retrieved 2022-11-21. "According to The Levant Front, she had made the dangerous journey to convince her husband to leave the terror group, but failed to convince him."
- ↑ Lucy Clarke-Billings (2015-10-15). "British mother Shukee Begum in Syria: 'Isil is not my cup of tea': Shukee Begum travelled to Syria in search of her husband, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Jamal al-Harith, last year". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2019-05-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20190502162445/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11933433/British-mother-Shukee-Begum-in-Syria-Isil-is-not-my-cup-of-tea.html. Retrieved 2022-11-21. "Ms Begum, 33, travelled to Syria in search of her husband, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Jamal al-Harith, in August last year, after he joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant."
