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Retiree shocked to find out son is fighting with Isis, says report

Retiree shocked to find out son is fighting with Isis, says report

A retired civil servant is in a state of shock upon learning that his "disciplined" son has been identified by police as one of two Malaysians spotted in a beheading video by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) militants, The Star reported today.

Anuar Salleh, 57, said he could not believe his quiet son, 20-year-old Mohd Faris Anuar, had joined Isis militants and was present when a Syrian man was beheaded.

"I last saw Faris at the end of last year. He told me that he was going to look for a job and at the same time further his studies in religious teaching," he was quoted as saying.

“I was not home on the day he left, and have not been able to contact Faris at all. He just disappeared."

Despite positively identifying the mugshot given by the police as his son, Anuar is hoping that the counter terrorism unit had mistakenly identified his son.

“I pray that the man is not Faris, and hopefully this is just a case of mistaken identity. Nowadays there are many things that can be altered and portrayed by the social media,” Anuar was reported as saying.

The father of six said he was not aware that Faris had been fighting alongside Isis and only learnt of it after police named his son, who studied at SM Teknik Sungai Petani, and Muhamad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi, 26, as the two Malaysians in the video.

“My wife has high blood pressure and doesn’t know about this yet. I do not plan to tell her as I worry she might not be able to take it."

Anuar said Faris, who is his third child, was a disciplined son who had no smartphone, laptop or driving licence.

“Faris is a very quiet person and he does not have many friends. He will stay at home during his free time, and doesn’t go out for drinks with friends," he was quoted as saying in the report.

“There was nothing unusual in his behaviour before he left home.”

In the 30-second video, Faris was identified as the one gesturing with his index finger towards the camera, while Wanndy was believed to be the one recording the video.

The beheading video was uploaded to a Facebook account on February 20.

It was reported that the recording showed a militant identified as an Arab carrying out the beheading of a Syrian accused of being a spy for the Assad regime.

Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division principal assistant director Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ayub Khan reportedly said yesterday that from intelligence gathered, the video was taken by Wanndy based on the voice heard in the clip.

He said the video also showed Wanndy, who is the owner of the Facebook account of Abu Hamzah Al Fateh.

It was also reported that Wanndy is in Syria with his wife Nor Mahmudah, while Mohd Faris is believed to have gone to Syria in September last year. Wanndy and his wife went to Syria in January this year.

Authorities in Malaysia have expressed increasing alarm as scores of the country’s citizens have either gone abroad to join the Isis jihad or have been arrested for supporting the group or seeking to travel to Syria.

In January, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said 67 Malaysians were known to have gone to Syria and Iraq and five had been killed fighting for the cause.

Malaysia was holding 120 people with suspected Isis links or sympathies, said Zahid, who is in charge of domestic security. – March 5, 2015.