Two Britons appeared in court yesterday charged with travelling to Syria to engage in acts of terrorism.
Yusuf Sawar and Mohammed Ahmed, from
Handsworth, Birmingham, were arrested at Heathrow on Monday after
arriving on a flight from Turkey.
The
men, both aged 21, who are charged with engaging in conduct in
preparation of terrorist acts contrary to section 5(1) of the Terrorism
Act 2006, were remanded in custody by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in
London.
It is alleged the offence took place
‘on or before May 15, 2013, with the intention of committing acts of
terrorism’ and that they ‘planned and travelled to Syria, via Turkey, in
order to engage in acts of terrorism’. The pair, who spoke only to confirm their names and dates of birth, will next appear at the Old Bailey on January 31.
In a separate development, it was
disclosed yesterday that two French schoolboys have travelled to Syria
to become Al Qaeda fighters.
The
youngsters, who cannot be named for legal reasons, did not arrive at
school on January 6, instead using a credit card to book flights to the
Middle East.
The father of one of the boys appealed for their return, saying his son had been lured into extremism via the internet.
He said: ‘My son was brainwashed online. There were exchanges on Facebook, and he watched videos about the war in Syria.’
The
father, who spoke to his son on Tuesday, added: ‘He said we wouldn’t
hear from him for a month, if he was still alive. He was with Al Qaeda
fighters. During the call he talked about the fighters as his brothers.’
l
The main Syrian political opposition group in exile, the Syrian
National Coalition, last night agreed to attend internationally
sponsored peace talks in Switzerland on Wednesday.
