Personally, I’m very glad that he left the UK.
The more disturbing news is, many western governments would have taken away his passport so that he couldn’t leave the country.
FORMER PRIVATE SCHOOLBOY IS LATEST BRITISH-BORN JIHADI TO DIE IN SYRIA
Ex-private schoolboy, 19, who became fourth Portsmouth jihadist to die fighting for ISIS tried to flee Syria but was caught by militants just eight minutes from the border
- Mehdi Hassan, 19, who used alias Abu Dujana, killed fighting for ISIS in Syria
- Former Catholic schoolboy from Portsmouth travelled to country last year
- Part of gang-of-five British jihadists seen on CCTV boarding flight to Turkey
- Family said Hassan expressed his intention to return to UK in recent months
- But claimed he was scared about repercussions and threat of terror charges
- He tried to meet his mother at border but couldn’t escape without passport
- He was captured by ISIS and was imprisoned by the jihadists for four days
- ISIS encourages its recruits to burn their passports as a sign of loyalty
By EMMA GLANFIELD and TOM WYKE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 12:53 GMT, 25 October 2014 | UPDATED: 17:42 GMT, 25 October 2014
A former Portsmouth schoolboy who died while fighting for ISIS tried to escape Syria but was captured only minutes away from meeting his mother across the Turkish border.
The family of Mehdi Hassan, 19, who attended a private Catholic school in Hampshire, confirmed he died in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani after a picture of his body emerged on Twitter.
Hassan, who also used the alias Abu Dujana, had expressed plans to return to Britain over the last few months but had been scared about the repercussions and the threat of prosecution on terror charges, his family said.
More here.
Hassan was one of five friends from Portsmouth who pretended to go on holiday to Turkey but instead went to fight for Islamic State in Syria. The group were caught on CCTV at London’s Gatwick Airport last year (pictured)