TEENAGERS are being convinced to fight in Syria by “cowards and criminals”, the mother of a Brighton man killed in the conflict has told The Argus.

After the death of her son Ibrahim in Syria, Khadijah Kamara yesterday said “young and impressionable” people were being targeted to do other people’s “dirty work”.

She did not know if her son was radicalised in Brighton, or by who, but said he had been targeted because he was young and impressionable.

The 19-year-old is believed to have been killed by a US drone strike on the Syrian-Iraqi border. He left his home in Newmarket Road at the beginning of this year and joined the growing number of British nationals who have travelled to Syria to fight.

Speaking to The Argus Ms Kamara said: “I was a single mum who struggled and brought up four boys.

“I raised Ibrahim for 19 years and did everything for him and this person came from nowhere and took him.

“He made Ibrahim listen to him but I say to him he does not have power, he is a coward and a criminal and God will judge him.

“He made these boys believe what they are doing is good.

“They used emotional things and took them because they are youngsters.”

The 35-year-old found out about her son’s death through Facebook.

She did not know he had gone to Syria until he called and said simply: “Mum I am in Syria.”

Ibrahim was last seen by his family in January. Ibrahim and his mother reconnected over Facebook, when she confronted him over stealing his 15-year-old brother’s passport to leave the country because his own had expired.

She said: “He was justifying it, saying what he did was right and he did it out of necessity.

“I said to him ‘you do not need to hurt other people to go and do good things’.

“You do not need to take somebody’s property. God does not need you to do that.” The family, originally from Sierra Leone, moved to Brighton in 2004 from Rotterdam. Ibrahim attended Fairlights Primary School and Varndean College.

Ms Kamara said: “I hope the authorities will do their job and stop this person from trying to influence more young people.

“I would not want this to happen to even my enemies.”

She urged more youngsters considering going to fight to think of their loved ones and said “war is never the solution and violence is not the answer”.

She said: “Just because you are young does not mean you are stupid. You have a brain. God gave you intelligence to tell what is wrong and what is right.

“When you want to do something you have to think not just about yourself and you have to think about the impact it will create on your loved ones, on your family.”

Reports from western fighters in Syria claim that Ibrahim, who also went under the name Khalil al-Britani, was killed by a strike while he was sleeping in the Aleppo.

He was reportedly a member of Jabhat al-Nusra, an affiliate group of al-Qaida, which has fought against both the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and Islamic State militants in the country's civil war.

The Deghayes brothers, Amer, Abdullah and Jafar, from Saltdean, are believed to have known Ibrahim.

Abdullah, a pupil at Longhill High School, Brighton, was killed fighting in Syria in April after leaving the UK in January.

Tariq Jung, chairman of the Brighton and Hove Muslim Forum, said teenagers are encouraged to go and fight through social media and online forums.

He said: “We do not know anyone in Brighton doing this and none of the mosques are encouraging it and they are giving all sorts of Islamic reasons as to why you should not go to Syria.

“It is the social media that is having an effect, what someone says 8,000 miles away is easily accessible if you are a youngster.

“From what I have heard, Ibrahim was a kind, gentle boy and you would think he was the last person to want to go and fight.

“We do not know how he would have become so impassioned to fight.

“These people are coming from well balanced families who get on with their normal lives.

“Every parent is concerned, I am concerned but I am doing my very best to make sure this does not happen.

“Any sermon in the mosque and in any sermon after, we sit down and discuss what is going on and I am sure no parent is going to close their children’s eyes to the danger.”

Military intervention imminent

AS another youth from Britain is killed parliament is gearing up to vote on military intervention in the Middle East.

An emergency session is being held today after Prime Minister David Cameron told the United Nations the UK was ready to play its part in confronting “an evil against which the whole world must unite”.

Sussex MPs will vote along with their colleagues to decide whether or not the UK should join the current campaign of international air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – which Ibrahim Kamara is believed to have been fighting against.

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “My heart goes out to Ibrahim’s mother and family.
“It’s completely heart-breaking and of course deeply concerning, to see people so young take this path.
“The horror of the ISIL campaign is almost unimaginable and must be stopped.
“But I’ve yet to be convinced, from the evidence I’ve heard so far, that military strikes will be effective in achieving that.”

She urged a political solution and said a bombing campaign would lead to more civilian causalities and would be “counter-productive”, fuelling the ISIL “propaganda machine”.

Conservative MP for Kemptown and Peacehaven Simon Kirby called ISIL a “direct threat to Britain” and said a “comprehensive strategy” is needed to defeat it.
He said: “It is important that whatever we do is legal, right and does not involve British combat troops on the ground.

“As ever with our country, when we are threatened in this way we should not turn away from what needs to be done. I shall be listening very carefully to the debate on this most important issue.

“The radicalisation (often of younger people) is disturbing wherever it takes place and it is concerning that we appear to be seeing instances of radicalisation here in Brighton.

“This is an issue I have raised with the Home Office and local police and am monitoring closely.”
Mike Weatherley, Conservative MP for Hove, said he expected the action to receive “broad cross-party support”.