Malik Faisal Akram Wikipedia – Malik Faisal Akram Bio
Malik Faisal Akram was shot dead after taking hostages at a US synagogue identified as a British national.
He was from Blackburn in Lancashire, was killed in a stand-off with SWAT teams lasting at least 10 hours.
Age
He was 44 years old.
Texas Standoff
At Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, the incident saw police first called on Saturday at 11 am local time. They ended with the release of the final hostages at around 9 pm.
All four hostages were unharmed.
During the incident, the man could be heard ranting on a Livestream in what was reported to have sounded like a British accent.
Today, the Foreign Office confirmed the man was British.
The Metropolitan Police said counter-terror officers were contacting US authorities and the FBI.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss tweeted: “My thoughts are with the Jewish community and all those affected by the appalling act in Texas. We condemn this act of terrorism and antisemitism.
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“We stand with the US in defending the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hate.”
FBI special agent in charge, Matt DeSarno, said they believed the man was “singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community,” adding they will continue to “work to find a motive.”
Police Report
Speaking to reporters to confirm that the hostage-taker had died, Mr DeSarno said there would be “an independent investigation of the shooting incident.”
The hostage-taker has demanded the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui.
In 2010, she was convicted and sentenced in Texas to 86 years in prison for killing US army officers while she had been detained in Afghanistan two years earlier.
The FBI and US Justice Department have also accused her of being an “al-Qaeda operative and facilitator.”
According to several people, Hostage–taker Akram referred to Siddiqui as his “sister” on the Livestream. Still, her real brother is said not to have been involved in the synagogue incident.
John Floyd, board chairman for the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and lawyer for Siddiqui’s brother, said his client was not responsible for the “heinous” crime.
Mr Floyd condemned what had happened as “wicked” and said the person involved “has nothing to do with Dr Aafia, her family, or the global campaign to get justice for Dr Aafia.”
