A Muslim cleric has been forced to leave UK's Manchester under death threats, after he condemned the Islamic extremism and assisted the UK police in a bombing inquiry. The imam at Didsbury mosque, Mohammed El-Saeiti, was threatened by three stalkers near his residence. The stalkers wrote vicious comments against him on social media after the former assisted the police in a bombing inquiry in November last year.
Mohammed El-Saeiti Received Death Threats
One of the stalkers told the cleric that he will be dead if he continues to speak against Islamic extremism. The cleric has now shifted to a secret location with help of the local police as officials were fearful about his safety in Manchester.
Officials have also launched inquiries against the three suspects who were stalking the cleric near his home. One of the men near his residence was carrying a rucksack with his hand in his pocket, according to The Times.
El-Saeiti, who was born in Libya, believes that the man was trying to imitate the pose of terrorist Salman Abedi. In May 2017, Abedi had detonated a rucksack bomb in the Manchester Arena which killed at least 22 and injured hundreds.
The Counter-Terrorism Policing North West is trying to find out the identity of three suspects, who followed the cleric when he used to go to the mosque. The suspects were seen on the mosque's CCTV cameras as they looked standing outside the mosque, waiting for the cleric to come out.
El-Saeiti also remembered the death threats he received in 2014 after he blamed ISIS at the Manchester Islamic Centre for the death of a Manchester taxi driver Alan Henning in October 2014.
Mosque Trustees Warned Him Over Speaking Against Islamic Extremism
The cleric also revealed that the mosque trustees had warned him about making such remarks and suggested that threats were being made to harm him, according to Daily Mail.
He was dismissed from his position as he confirmed that he would be a witness to the Manchester Arena bombing.
El-Saeiti, who has a degree in Islamic studies, and a master's degree in theology from Middlesex University, also stated that 91 people had signed a petition, including Abedi's brother Hashem, to remove him from his position.
Ramadan, Abedi's father, asked people to isolate the cleric. Notably, his son Hashem is jailed for 55 years in the Manchester Arena bombing.
