A west London jihadi terrorist who faked his own death has pleaded guilty to terrorism offences after returning from a terrorist training camp in Syria.
Imran Khawaja, 27 of Foxglove Close, Southall, has appeared on social media video footage holding a bag of severed heads.
In June 2014 Khawaja was being driven back to the UK by his cousin Tahir Bhatti from Watford after a message was released by an ISIS affiliated group claiming that he had been killed fighting in Syria.
They were both arrested by Counter Terrorism Command SO15 officers as they entered the UK at Dover port in a hire car on June 3 2014.
Khawaja has pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism, attending a terrorist training camp, weapons training and possession of an article for terrorist purposes.
On January 26 2014, Imran Khawaja left from Heathrow Airport and travelled to a training camp in Syria. It was here that he joined ‘Rayat al Tawheed’ - a group which became aligned with Islamic State.
The group began posting violent propaganda online in an attempt to persuade others to join them. In response, the Metropolitan Police SO15 Counter Terrorism Command began an investigation into Rayat al Tawheed and its UK-based support network.
Khawaja features in one of the group’s promotional videos presenting a vision of daily life at the Rayat al Tawheed training camp, ‘Five Star Jihad’, where he is introduced as ‘Abu Daigham’.
Disturbing video footage posted on social media show Khawaja holding a bag of severed heads. With his face covered he picks up one of the heads from the bag and shows it to the camera. The description posted with the video is ‘British ISIS fighter Abu Daigham al-Britani with Government soldier’s head Syria.’
In May 2014, the group put out a message on social media, designed to deliberately mislead authorities, claiming that Abu Daigham al-Britani had been killed alongside an image of two masked men holding a flag associated with Islamic State. This news of his death was picked up and reported by the British media.
However, Khawaja was not dead. He was in fact making his way back to the UK.
A number of addresses linked to Khawaja and Bhatti were searched as part of the investigation. Messages and photographs were recovered which proved Khawaja had engaged in terrorist training whilst in Syria, which involved learning how to handle military weapons.
On June 13 2014, Imran Khawaja, unemployed, was charged with terrorism offences.
Tahir Bhatti, 45, of Clarke Way, Watford, a taxi business owner, was charged with assisting to commit terrorist acts contrary to section 5 Terrorism Act 2006.
A second man was also identified by officers involved in Khawaja’s support network in the UK. Asim Ali, 33, of Spikes Bridge Road, Ealing was arrested on August 14 2014 at his home on suspicion of assisting committing acts of terrorism and suspicion of terrorist funding.
Officers believe Ali played a pivotal role providing support and assistance to Khawaja. He set up messaging services and provided him with £300 from his bank account before he left the UK.
Ali was charged on August 15 2014 with the intention of assisting Imran Khawaja and others to commit acts of terrorism.
On December 12 2014, Khawaja pleaded guilty to:
Preparation of Acts of Terrorism contrary to section five Terrorism Act 2006
Attending a Terrorist Training Camp contrary to section eight Terrorism Act 2006
Weapons Training contrary to section 54 Terrorism Act 2000
Possession of an Article for Terrorist Purposes contrary to section 57 (one) Terrorism Act 2000
A charge of solicitation to murder contrary to section four of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 has been ordered to lay on file.
On Tuesday, December 23 2014, Ali pleaded guilty to entering into a funding arrangement for the purposes of terrorism, contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
At the Old Bailey January 20 Bhatti pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.
Commander Richard Walton, Head of the SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, said: “The images and video of Khawaja in Syria are horrific and deeply disturbing. He was a senior figure in Rayat Al Taweed, a group aligned to Islamic State that celebrated its terrorist acts through social media back to the UK.
“Khawaja chose to become a terrorist, engaged in weapons training in a terrorist training camp and faked his own death in order to conceal his entry back into the UK.
“He posed a serious threat to this country and the country is safer as a result of this prosecution.”
The men will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday, February 5 and Friday, February 6.
