A mosque in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, and its leader have come under the spotlight because the co-pilot of the Israel-bound FlyDubai flight attended it during the period when investigators say he started on his path to radicalization.
The suspect, whom officials haven’t named but people familiar to the investigation have identified as 29-year-old Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017. He is currently in custody in the United Arab Emirates, where he has been questioned by investigators on suspicion of attacking the captain in an attempt to crash the plane last month, according to a statement by Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, the attorney general.
Mr. Al Shamsi said on Friday that the co-pilot’s “drift toward extremism and terrorism” began in Australia, where he was exposed to ideas that led him to attempt what investigators described as a Sept. 11-inspired attack. He pursued a career in aviation to carry out that plan, Mr. Al Shamsi said.
Australian authorities last week launched an investigation into the suspect’s time in the country.
The Emirati authorities said the suspect, who was attending the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, became “acquainted with individuals associated with an institution known as ‘My Centre,’” a Muslim youth center that also serves as a mosque in Melbourne.
The center, also known as the Multicultural Youth Center, has been a long-established part of the city’s northern suburbs and is run by Samir Mohtadi, who also goes by the name Abu Hamza. Mr. Al Shamsi said the co-pilot had mentioned Abu Hamza was the leader of the mosque, but did not offer details. Whether they had a relationship was unclear. The center has seen bouts of controversy sparked by statements from Mr. Mohtadi but was not known to have a radicalizing influence, according to members of the Muslim community and researchers who follow extremism.
Mr. Mohtadi is a complicated figure who in the past has testified in a criminal trial against those who plotted a terrorist attack. He has drawn scrutiny over the years for being wary of vaccinations during the pandemic, posting online tirades about Zionists and appearing to condone spousal abuse. But he was not known to be a proponent of violent ideologies.
Moustapha Sarakibi, managing director of Board of Imams Victoria, said Mr. Mohtadi was not a fringe or marginalized figure, and that My Centre was a multipurpose facility offering sports programs and drug counseling in addition to religious services, open to anyone who walks through its doors.
“It’s not a place that propagates this sort of thing generally, not a place that would condone violence or any terrorist groups,” said Mr. Sarakibi, who is also a chaplain at the technology institute. Mr. Mohtadi “has been very outspoken, but if you go back to his speeches, he speaks openly against ISIS and these groups,” he said.
On Sunday, Mr. Mohtadi posted a video on the Facebook page of Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia, which runs My Centre, obliquely referring to the allegations without directly addressing them.
“Regardless how much you explain yourself to people, that’s it, they’re fixated with their idea,” he said in the video. “The best thing, sometimes, is not to say anything.”
The co-pilot’s time as a student could become a political flashpoint in Australia, where immigration and student visas have become hot-button issues with an ascendant far-right party frequently taking aim at the Muslim community. On Monday, Pauline Hanson, head of the One Nation Party, released a statement assailing public funding the center has received.
The years when the suspect is said to have studied in Australia were a fraught period for Muslims in the country, according to researchers and religious leaders, amid concerns young Australians were being drawn to the violent messages of the Islamic State.
“This was the height of Islamic State radicalization and recruitment,” said Greg Barton, chair in global Islamic politics at Deakin University in Victoria, currently based at the school’s Indonesia campus. Such ideas likely spread on the periphery of mosques, he said. “If you were drawn to edgy rhetoric, you might share it with people you bumped into at the car park or coffee hall,” Mr. Barton said.
Debra Smith, who has worked on countering violent extremism, said the suspect’s radicalization was likely far more shaped by the internet, which was being flooded with jihadist materials during that period, than establishments like My Centre.
“What we worry about is people who pull away from community-oriented places, ones who go into smaller breakaway groups,” said Ms. Smith, a professor at Victoria University.
Ahmed Sobh, manager of Melbourne-based Middle East Radio and a family friend of Mr. Mohtadi’s, said the cleric had long worked to set young Muslims on the right path and away from negative influences.
Mr. Mohtadi testified for the prosecution in the 2007 trial of Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who was convicted on terrorism charges for plotting attacks on public facilities including the Melbourne Cricket Ground. At the trial, he said Mr. Benbrika subscribed to a “harsh” version of Islam, according to court records.
The post Investigation into FlyDubai Attacker Puts Spotlight on an Australian Mosque appeared first on New York Times.
