UK's 'Jihadi Jack' spotted in Syrian jail
October 6, 2019, 9:17 am

UK's 'Jihadi Jack' spotted in Syrian jail

A former British Islamic State (IS) recruit nicknamed "Jihadi Jack" was spotted gaunt and lying on the floor of a squalid, overcrowded jail in Syria, a media report said on Sunday.

Jack Letts, the 23-year-old Muslim convert from Oxfordshire, who declared himself an "enemy of Britain" and fled to the Middle East to join IS, has been stripped of his UK citizenship, The Daily Mail said in the report.

Letts was filmed among dozens of fellow IS prisoners, all in orange jumpsuits, who have been captured by Kurdish militia.

On Saturday night, his mother Sally Lane pleaded for Letts to be allowed to return and face trial in the UK so that he can be rescued from the conditions in which he was being held, but the Home Office has dismissed her plea.

Seeing the first images of Letts since he was taken prisoner two years ago, she told The Mail on Sunday: "It's heart-rending to see your son like this and to feel so completely powerless.

"We have been pressing the Red Cross for months to tell us what the jail is really like, but they always refuse, saying that to release this information would jeopardise their access."

Letts left Britain for the brutal 'caliphate' run by the IS terror group in 2014.

He has denied being a fighter. After denouncing IS as "un-Islamic" in social media posts, he managed to escape from the caliphate's capital Raqqa in May 2017.

Since then he has been held by the Kurdish YPG militia at the prison believed to be in the city of Qamishli. He has not been charged or put on trial.

In occasional letters to his parents sent via the Red Cross, Letts has described how he was being held in a mass cell, with almost no furniture, boiling in summer and freezing in winter, with no access to exercise or the outdoors, and little opportunity to wash.

Home Secretary, Chancellor Sajid Javid revoked Jack's UK citizenship earlier this year. Letts however, is still a citizen of Canada, where his father comes from.

Security sources have revealed that more than 60 British jihadis were languishing in Kurdish custody in northern Syria, The Daily Mail reported.

The male jihadis were being kept in secret prisons, while the women and children were in camps such as Roj, Al-Hol and Ayn Issa.IANS

source : thesun

Baghdad Provincial Council votes in favor of dismissing governor EU presses UK to resubmit Brexit plan as end-game looms

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”