The United States on Tuesday included Indian-origin British citizen Siddhartha Dhar in the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Dhar had left the U.K. in 2014 and joined the Islamic State in Syria, the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
He was a leading member of now-defunct terrorist organisation al-Muhajiroun. “He is considered to have replaced ISIS executioner Mohammad Emwazi, also known as ‘Jihadi John’. Dhar is believed to be the masked leader who appeared in a January 2016 ISIS video of the execution of several prisoners ISIS accused of spying for the UK,” the statement said. Also known as Abu Rumaysah, Dhar had earned the nickname Jihadi Sid. Emwazi was also a British Muslim.
Dhar, born to Hindu parents in London, converted to Islam, reportedly to marry his wife Aisha. He turned radical and became a campaigner for Sharia laws in the U.K. Arrested in September 2014 for his association with the al-Muhajiroun group, he was released soon. Hours after being released on bail, he fled the country, defying a ban on his travel abroad. His wife and children also accompanied him. Weeks later Dhar tweeted a picture of himself holding his newborn son and an AK-47, from Syria. “What a shoddy security system Britain must have to allow me to breeze through Europe to [ISIS],” he wrote.
Believed to be in his early 30s, Dhar posted Islamist propaganda on social media and hailed the announcement of the caliphate by the IS. He used to run a bouncy castle salesman rental company, according to British media reports.
Anjem Choudary, who was arrested along with him, was convicted and jailed, while Dhar became the IS executioner in the ten-and-a-half minute gruesome video of executions of those the terrorist organisation accused of passing on information to the U.K.
Abdelatif Gaini, a Belgian-Moroccan citizen, was also designated a global terrorist by the U.S. The designations enable sanctions on foreign persons who pose terrorist risk to U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. “Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other governments,” the statement said.
Abdelatif Gaini is believed to be fighting for IS in the Middle East. Gaini is connected to U.K.-based ISIS sympathisers Mohamad Ali Ahmed and Humza Ali, who were convicted in the U.K. in 2016 of terrorism offences.