The 18-year-old nephew of former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Omar Deghayes has been killed while fighting with an anti-Assad group in Syria.
Abdullah Deghayes, from Brighton, was described by his father, Abubakr, as “a martyr” who died “for a just cause” in the fight against a brutal dictator.
Abdullah Deghayes, who left the UK for Syria with his 16-year-old brother Jaffar in January, is thought to have been killed in combat within the past few weeks, shortly after his 18th birthday. It is thought that Abdullah was fighting with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al Nusra.
His older brother, Amer, 20, who is understood to have gone to fight in Syria after joining an aid convoy to the region last year, has also been wounded, the boys’ father said.
Mr Deghayes said that the brothers had gone to Syria “of their own free will” without the consent of their parents.
Abdullah was the nephew of Omar Deghayes who was held by the United States as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay detention camp from 2002 until 2007 after being arrested in Pakistan. Omar Deghayes was released without charges and returned to Brighton where he lives.
In response to his nephew’s death Omar Deghayes has likened Abdullah to the international “freedom fighters” who fought in the Spanish civil war.
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In total, it is believed that 400 British nationals have travelled to Syria since conflict broke out in early 2011, and of these 400, it is estimated 20 have died so far.
The Foreign Secretary William Hague has reiterated warnings to British citizens not to travel to Syria and said fighters returning to the UK were an “increasing threat to our own national security”.
“Where we are aware of people proposing to travel to Syria we can take action about it, including depriving people of their passports, including if they are people who are resident in the UK but not British nationals, the Home Secretary can cancel their leave to remain in the UK,” he said.
