Blackburn terrorist: Brother of Faisal Akram blames 'mental health struggles' ...

Blackburn terrorist: Brother of Faisal Akram blames 'mental health struggles' ...
Blackburn terrorist: Brother of Faisal Akram blames 'mental health struggles' ...

The family of the British terrorist who was shot dead after taking four people hostage inside a Texas synagogue have tonight paid tribute to him and admitted to 'liasing' with the shooter during his 10-hour stand-off with police. 

Malik Faisal Akram, 44, was shot dead after an armed stand-off with American intelligence officers at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas on Saturday.

His 'devastated' brother Gulbar Akram shared a message on social media in which he revealed he had been working with the FBI and 'liasing' with his brother. He also apologised and blamed 'mental health issues' for Malik's actions.

Gulbar wrote: 'It is with great great sadness I will confirm my brother Faisal passed away in Texas, USA this morning.

'We are absolutely devastated as a family. We can’t say much now as their is an ongoing FBI investigation.

'We would like to say that we as a family do not condone any of his actions and would like to sincerely apologize wholeheartedly to all the victims involved in the unfortunate incident.

'Sitting in the incident room all last night at Greenbank until the early hours liaising with Faisal , the negotiators, FBI etc And although my brother was suffering from mental health issues we were confident that he would not harm the hostages.

'Obviously our priority will be to get him back to the UK for his Funeral prayers although we have been warned it could take weeks.'

A later post shared on a local Facebook group pleaded for patience and respect for the family. The statement read: 'Faisal Akram has sadly departed from this temporary world and returned to his Creator. 

'May the Almighty forgive all his sins and bless him with the highest ranks of Paradise. May Allah give strength and patience to his loved ones in dealing with their loss.'

Akram, who was reportedly armed with 'backpacks of explosives', had demanded the release of convicted Pakistani terrorist Aafia Siddiqu - known as Lady Al Qaeda - who police say was referred to as his sister.  

He held the hostages, including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, trapped inside the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, approximately 27 miles from Dallas, for about 10 hours before being shot dead. All of the hostages were subsequently reported free and safe. 

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss took to Twitter to condemn the 'appalling act of terrorism and anti-semitism in Texas'. Ms Truss added: 'We stand with US in defending the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hate.' 

Lead FBI special agent Matthew DeSarno confirmed Akram was a British citizen and that 'at this time there is no indication that other individuals are involved' in a statement released to the media on Sunday afternoon.

He said the FBI Shooting Incident Review Team would conduct a 'thorough, factual and objective investigation'.

Counter Terror police also confirmed to MailOnline they would continue to work with 'US authorities and colleagues in the FBI' in the coming days as the investigation into Akram's actions continues. 

It comes as dramatic livestream footage revealed the moment two hostages ran out of the temple. 

Akram can be seen popping out of the door as he chases after them with a gun, before quickly retreating back inside and closing the door after spotting the nearby SWAT team. Dozens of agents then breach the synagogue as gunshots can be heard. 

A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said on Sunday: 'We are aware of the death of a British man in Texas and are in contact with the local authorities.' 

A post shared on social media asked for forgiveness for British terrorist Faisal Akram, 44, who was shot dead by an FBI SWAT team after a 10-hour armed stand-off  at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas

A post shared on social media asked for forgiveness for British terrorist Faisal Akram, 44, who was shot dead by an FBI SWAT team after a 10-hour armed stand-off  at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas

One of the hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel in, Colleyville, Texas, was released and taken to his family. Authorities have said all hostages are now out and safe after the terrorist was shot

One of the hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel in, Colleyville, Texas, was released and taken to his family. Authorities have said all hostages are now out and safe after the terrorist was shot

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss took to Twitter to condemn the 'appalling act of terrorism and anti-semitism in Texas'. Ms Truss added: 'We stand with US in defending the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hate'

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss took to Twitter to condemn the 'appalling act of terrorism and anti-semitism in Texas'. Ms Truss added: 'We stand with US in defending the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hate'

FBI special agent Matt Desarno confirmed that the suspect was dead and that all hostages were released safely and uninjured after the agency's elite Hostage Rescue Team breached the temple

FBI special agent Matt Desarno confirmed that the suspect was dead and that all hostages were released safely and uninjured after the agency's elite Hostage Rescue Team breached the temple

A SWAT team was set up by a nearby middle school as the hostage situation dragged on for eleven hours

A SWAT team was set up by a nearby middle school as the hostage situation dragged on for eleven hours

The SWAT team was on standby as the FBI spoke with the suspect and investigate his background

The SWAT team was on standby as the FBI spoke with the suspect and investigate his background

Authorities were in negotiations with the suspect for about 10 hours

Authorities were in negotiations with the suspect for about 10 hours 

There were four hostages inside the synagogue, including the temple's rabbi. One hostage has been released

There were four hostages inside the synagogue, including the temple's rabbi. One hostage has been released

Aafia Siddiqui is see here in an undated photo after her graduation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her brother is demanding her release from prison while holding hostages at a Texas synagogue.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker (pictured) and three others are being held hostage

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker (right) is one of four being held hostage by a man claiming to be the brother of convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui (left) known as Lady Al Qaeda 

Police are blocking roads near the temple and nearby residents have been evacuated as night falls

Police are blocking roads near the temple and nearby residents have been evacuated as night falls

Armored vehicles are at the scene where the assailant claims to have bombs as the FBI attempts to diffuse the situation

Armored vehicles are at the scene where the assailant claims to have bombs as the FBI attempts to diffuse the situation

Law enforcement have also gathered at the Colleyville Elementary School to help evacuate local residents

Law enforcement have also gathered at the Colleyville Elementary School to help evacuate local residents

Local and federal authorities are working together to try and free all four hostages safely

Local and federal authorities are working together to try and free all four hostages safely 

The standoff is taking place at the Congregation Beth Israel, in Colleyville, just 27 miles from Dallas

The standoff is taking place at the Congregation Beth Israel, in Colleyville, just 27 miles from Dallas

Who is Aafia Siddiqui, the 'Lady Al Qaeda' terrorist who planned chemical attacks on Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge

Siddiqui, who was a biology major at MIT, said in 1993 that she wanted to do 'something to help our Muslim brothers and sisters' even if it meant breaking the law.

She jumped to her feet and 'raised her skinny little wrists in the air' in a display of defiance that shocked her friends.

An in-depth account of her journey to infamy also reveals that she took a National Rifle Association shooting class and persuaded other Muslims to learn how to fire a gun.

Siddiqui lied to her husband and after they wed over the phone he was stunned to discover she was just marrying him for his family's connections to better enable her to wage jihad.

Two handout photos of terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui released by the FBI in May of 2004

Two handout photos of terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui released by the FBI in May of 2004

She was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 by local forces who found her with two kilos of poison sodium cyanide and plans for chemical attacks on New York's Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building

Siddiqui, a mother-of-three, eventually got her twisted wish and became the most wanted woman in the world by the FBI. 

She was handed to the Americans and convicted of attempted murder in a U.S. court in 2010.

But her hatred for the U.S. was so strong that during her interrogation she grabbed a rifle from one of her guards and shot at them shouting: 'Death to Americans'.

A 2014 Boston Globe profile of Siddiqui's time in Boston sought to answer what happened during her 11 years as a student in the U.S.

Something happened to radicalize an intelligent and devout woman who not only graduated from MIT but also got a doctorate in neuroscience from Brandeis University. 

At MIT she made few friends and was remembered as intelligent, driven and a regular at the Prospect Street mosque, which would later be attended by alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

She wore long sleeves and the hijab and was seen as 'very sweet' for a former roommate at her all-female dorm.

The focus of her life was the Muslim Student Association but things appear to have changed with the start of the Bosnian War, which seems to have been the beginning of her radicalization.

Siddiqui became involved with the Al-Kifah Refugee Centre, a Brooklyn-based organization which is thought to have been Al Qaeda's focus of operations in the US.

Terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann said: 'Aafia was from a prominent family with connections and a sympathy for jihad. She was just what they needed.'

In 1993 as she and some friends debated how to raise money for Muslims being killed during the Bosnian War, one of them joked that they didn't want to go on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

Waqas Jilani, then a graduate student at Clark University, said: 'She raised her skinny little wrists in the air and said: 'I'd be proud to be on the Most Wanted list because it would mean I'm doing something to help our Muslim brothers and sisters'

'She said we should all be proud to be on that list'. 

Jilani added that Siddiqui said in her speeches that Muslims should 'get training and go overseas and fight'.

He said: 'We were all laughing like, 'Uh-oh, Aafia's got a gun!'

'Part of it was because she was such a bad shot, but also because she was always mouthing off about the U.S. and the FBI being so bad and all.'

Siddiqui married Mohammed Amjad Khan, the son of a wealthy Pakistani family, in a ceremony carried out over the phone before he flew to Boston.

But upon arrival he discovered that far from being the quiet religious woman he had been promised, her life was very different.

He said: 'I discovered that the well-being of our nascent family unit was not her prime goal in life. Instead, it was to gain prominence in Muslim circles.'

Khan described to the Boston Globe how she regularly watched videos of Osama bin Laden, spent weekends at terror training camps in New Hampshire with activists from Al-Kifah and begged him to quit his medical job so he could join her.

In the end he stopped bringing work colleagues home because she would 'only to talk about them converting to Islam'.

Khan said: 'Invariably this would lead to unpleasantness, so I decided to keep my work separate....

'...By now, all her focus had shifted to jihad against America, instead of preaching to Americans so that they all become Muslims and America becomes a Muslim land'.

The breaking point was the September 11 2001 attacks after which Siddiqui, who was by now dressing in all black, insisted they return to Pakistan and got a divorce.

American officials suspect she remarried Ammar Al-Baluchi, the nephew of 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, though her family deny this.

Siddiqui and her children disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan in 2003 shortly after Mohammed was arrested.

The following year she was named by FBI director Robert Mueller as one of the seven most wanted Al Qaeda operatives, and the only woman. 

Advertisement

FBI special agent Matt Desarno said the agency's Hostage Rescue Team, who

read more from dailymail.....

PREV Black cab driver who fled a fatal midnight hit-and-run and continued picking-up ... trends now
NEXT Female teacher, 35, is arrested after sending nude pics via text to students ... trends now