Amman, Asharq Al-Awsat- The brother of the Jordanian surgeon detained in connection with the bombing attempts in London and Glasgow last week has ruled out in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat” the likelihood of his brother having a connection with terrorist actions or belonging to a terrorist organization or Al-Qaeda.
Mahmud Jamil Abd-al-Qadir al-Asha, 17, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Someone contacted us and said he had read the name of my brother (Mohammed) among the detainees with the British authorities and that he had saw a news report on an Arab satellite channel saying that my brother had been detained. As soon as my family heard the news, cries broke out in the house over the fate of my brother. We tried to contact him on his telephone but there was no answer despite trying several times to no avail”.
People from the neighborhood, relatives, acquaintances and friends, came to our house to ask about the report.” added Mahmud.
Mahmud pointed out that his brother left Jordan for Britain before three years accompanied by his wife to study for a master’s degree in medicine and specialize in neurology surgery after obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the Jordanian University before four years.
He went on to say that he has been living in Nazzal neighborhood in Amman since 1989 when his father worked as teacher in Saudi Arabia.
“My brother both worked and studied in Britain and we were also in contact with each other. My brother prays like other Muslims, does not have a beard, and is not a hard liner. On the contrary, he is open to life in his dealing with others.” He added.
He did not know whether his brother’s wife worked in Britain or was a housewife and asserted that his older brother Ahmad, who is a doctor in Amman, assisted him financially to complete his studies and noted that they are a big family of eight members, among them six males, and that three of Al-Asha family are doctors and another is an engineer.
Mahmud underlined the fairness of British justice and noted that his brother would be released, particularly as he is interested in his studies “and has no connection with fundamentalist or any other organizations.”