A BRITISH jihadi whose group had links to the Manchester Arena bomber is facing years in jail for being a member of Islamic State (IS).
Mohammed Abdallah, 26, went to Syria after his brother Abdalraouf, 24, who set up a “hub” of communication for would-be fighters from his home in Manchester.
He was outed as an IS fighter last year when the terror group’s registration document listing him as a “specialist sniper” was leaked to a TV news channel by a defector.
After an Old Bailey trial, Abdallah, of Manchester, was found guilty of possessing an AK47 assault rifle, receiving £2,000 for terrorism and of being a member of IS.
The court heard he arrived in Britain as a refugee at the age of three after his family fled the Gaddafi regime in Libya.
Abdallah went to Burnage High School in Manchester and Didsbury Mosque where suicide bomber Salman Abedi also attended, it can now be reported.
The defendant said he failed to pass any exams and was “not particularly religious”, preferring to spend time drinking and smoking cannabis.
In 2011 the brothers joined the “Tripoli Brigade” and during a bloody battle against the Gaddafi regime, Abdalraouf needed a wheelchair as he was shot and paralysed from the waist down during the battles which resulted in Colonel Gaddafi’s downfall.
In 2014, Abdallah went to Syria with fellow Libyan Nezar Khalifa, 27.
The court heard they planned to join IS with former RAF serviceman Stephen Gray and Raymond Matimba.
Abdallah was remanded into custody ahead of sentencing today.
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