Exiled hate preacher: I trained four Brits for jihad war
FOUR British extremists are being trained to fight in Syria at a camp run by exiled Omar Bakri, The Sun can reveal.
The hate preacher, who is banned from the UK, boasted of his military-style courses for Islamic fanatics on the lawless border with Lebanon. In a chilling interview, Bakri revealed one recruit was a computer programmer in his 20s from London, while another was an Midlands-based IT worker.
And he claimed: “Others like them will follow”.
He said: “Of the four, two of them have Syrian connections. But they are all born in UK and have professional backgrounds.
“After their training they will do their duty of jihad (holy war) in Syria and maybe Palestine.”
Bakri, 52, came to Britain in 1986 and stayed until 2005, during which time he praised the 9/11 terror attacks — and claimed £250,000 in benefits.
The Syrian-born cleric claimed to have trained “many fighters” from other countries, including Germany and France, since setting up home in Lebanon.
He boasted of exploiting the clashes between Israel and Gaza to focus on “military activities”.
He added: “I’m involved with training the mujahideen (fighters) in camps on the Syrian borders and also on the Palestine side.”