A London man believed to be connected to three others with terrorist links, two dead and one in a Mauritanian jail, tells CTV News he has no ties to terrorism.
Mujahid ‘Ryan’ Enderi, who security sources say is under investigation for ties to terrorism, left for Libya nearly two years ago and spoke CTV’s Cristina Howorun.
He is now living in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the 19-year-old says “I’m not tied up with this story in any way, shape or form.”
He’s talking about Ali Medlej and Xristos Katsiroubas, who were killed during an attack on an Algerian gas plant and Aaron Yoon, who is in jail in Mauritania.
All four attended the same high school in London, though Enderi was several grades behind the other three.
Enderi says he knew the three from school and the Islamic Library, but lost contact with them shortly after the trio left for Africa.
Asked if he knew who led the other three down the path to radicalism, and ultimately terrorism, he said he had a few ideas but no details.
“I think I know, but I don't know about, for example, how they got as far as they got, I know as much as you."
But Salim Mansour, a political sciences professor at Western University, says the road to radicalism can be found right here at home.
“It is very much being propagated in London as it is across Canada and the United States, in mosques and mosque-related clubs and institutions.”
London's mosques and the Islamic Library have repeatedly denied radicalism is preached within their walls and Enderi agrees.
Referring to the attack in Algeria, he says "There's nobody in the library that could have driven anybody to do something so horrible."
But Mansour says “These two boys did not go on a backpacking tour, they went and ended up being the foot soldiers of the global jihad. So that was done and it was done obviously in London and it was done within the context of the religious organization of the Muslim community.
It’s a lesson in radicalism Enderi says he didn't adopt, “I have nothing to do with any of these allegations."
In fact, Enderi says he is working at his family's auto sales and repair shop in Libya.
Many questions remain unanswered, including who led the trio down the wrong path, who funded their trip to Africa, who knew and who could have stopped them.
