Khalid Kelly
Encyclopedia
Khalid Kelly, born Terence Edward Kelly (born c. 1967), also known as Abu Osama and Taliban Terry is an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 convert, and former leader of Al-Muhajiroun
Al-Muhajiroun
Al-Muhajiroun is a banned Islamist organisation that was based in Britain and which has been linked to international terrorism, homophobia and anti-semitism...

 in Ireland.

Kelly by profession is an Irish nurse who, like Yvonne Ridley
Yvonne Ridley
Yvonne Ridley is a British journalist, war correspondent and Respect Party activist best known for her capture by the Taliban and subsequent conversion to Islam after release, her outspoken opposition to Zionism, and her criticism of Western media portrayals of the War on Terror...

, converted to Islam, in 2000 after being imprisoned in an Islamic country. He has a daughter who lives with her non-Muslim mother and two sons, Osama and Muhammed.

Background

Born Terence Edward Kelly in South Dublin
South Dublin
South Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. The county seat is Tallaght, the largest suburb of Dublin and the biggest urban centre in the county. Other important centres of population are Lucan and Clondalkin...

, he attended Roman Catholic schools there until age 15, when he left to work in pubs.

At 23, he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to train as an intensive care nurse and in 1996 took a job in Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...

, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, at the King Faisal hospital
King Faisal Specialist Hospital
The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center is a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which operates 850 beds with approximately 8,500 employees. In all there are 63 different nationalities making up the staff. The hospital is the national referral center for oncology, organ...

, attracted by the tax-free salary, living there for 4½ years. He lived for 3½ years in "downtown in a Saudi villa, not in one of the Western compounds. When I’d hear the call to prayer, I’d open the window and turn up the stereo in opposition to what I saw as an imposition."

Although Kelly went to work in Saudi Arabia because the salary was tax free he soon found bigger money in making alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

, which is a strictly forbidden activity in that country.

Kelly was subsequently caught and sent to jail in 2000, where an Afghan introduced him to Islam. Khalid Kelly, as he is now known, left prison a convert. Kelly recalls: "I got really good at making drink. I had three stills in my house and then I got arrested one day with five cases of Johnny Walker in the back of my car. I was sent to prison for eight months. I lost everything. It was all confiscated. The prison was 150 people in a dormitory with a mosque at the end. I’d been inside for four weeks and was at my lowest point when I was given the Koran in English. Someone explained it to me. And then it was very quick. I saw that God was the creator, the provider, the commander, and the legislator for mankind. It was all suddenly very clear. I felt freer than I had ever been - even though I was in prison."

Kelly has also said of this event:
"It just filled in all the gaps, you know? It was like the answer to everything I'd every wondered about. There was even a Captain Ali there at the prison, and he gave me a Koran. And I'll always remember it because he wrapped it in a piece of newspaper, you know, because he didn't have any wrapping paper. And he was so happy for me. He was nearly crying, the man." He said, "'I'm so happy you've come to the truth. It will change your life.' And indeed it did", he says. Describing his journey from skepticism to belief, or as he called it “from darkness to light”, Kelly said, “the journey started with the illegal production of alcoholic drinks in Saudi Arabia whilst I was working as a nurse at the King Faisal hospital.” He went on to say: “Before Islam, I didn’t know the meaning of love. I used to be like other British young men, drinking and going out, but when I read the Quran in 2000, whilst in jail, I felt a huge surge of compassion and sympathy. I feel now that what led me to Islam was God’s mercy and sympathy. It’s something bigger than myself and I can’t explain it with words.”

In 2002 Kelly was deported to Britain where he allegedly soon began attending sermons by the radical preacher Omar Mohammad Bakri. Upon his return to Britain Kelly got a job working as a nurse at St Thomas’s Hospital. However, rumours started that he was a supporter of the Taliban and subsequently lost his job. He became a member of the now disbanded hardline Islamic organisation Al-Mujaharoun (the leader in Ireland).

Kelly was a member of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah
Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah (organisation)
For the Islamic Muslim Arabic term see Ahlus Sunnah wal JamaahAhlus Sunnah wal Jamaah is an Islamic organisation operating in the United Kingdom, intended to be a successor to the banned Al-Muhajiroun organisation. Founded in November 2005 in north London, its head is "Simon" Sulayman Keeler...

, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Islamist organization and a close associate of Sulayman Keeler
Sulayman Keeler
Sulayman Keeler is the leader of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, a British Islamist organization. He is a former member of Al-Muhajiroun, a designated and banned terrorist organization, and led the Society of Converts to Islam....

, Abu Izzadeen
Abu Izzadeen
Abu Izzadeen , born Trevor Brooks , is a British spokesman for Al Ghurabaa, a Muslim organization banned under the Terrorism Act 2006 for the glorification of terrorism, that operated in the United Kingdom....

. Omar Bakri Muhammed and Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...

, Abu Uzair
Abu Uzair
Abu Uzair is a Muslim teacher and Islamist activist in The United Kingdom. He served as the leader of the The Saved Sect, an organisation the British government has designated and banned as terrorist, and a leading member of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah...

 and Anjem Choudary
Anjem Choudary
Anjem Choudary is a British former solicitor, and, before it was proscribed, spokesman for the Islamist group Islam4UK. He is married, has four children, and lives in Ilford, London....

. He was also a member of Al Ghurabaa
Al Ghurabaa
Al Ghurabaa is a Muslim organization which, along with the The Saviour Sect, is widely believed to be the reformed Al-Muhajiroun after it disbanded in 2004 by order of Omar Bakri Muhammad. Other members include Abu Izzadeen and Abu Uzair....

 and The Saved Sect
The Saved Sect
The Saved Sect , formerly and more generally known as The Saviour Sect, is a Muslim organization that operated in the United Kingdom from its formation in November 2005 until the British government proscribed it on 17 July 2006...

.

In October 2003 Kelly appeared on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...

on RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

 with Pat Kenny
Pat Kenny
Patrick "Pat" Kenny is an Irish broadcaster and former disc jockey and continuity announcer. He is employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is their highest paid presenter. He presents Today with Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning between 10:00 and midday...

, alongside Anjem Choudary
Anjem Choudary
Anjem Choudary is a British former solicitor, and, before it was proscribed, spokesman for the Islamist group Islam4UK. He is married, has four children, and lives in Ilford, London....

.

Declared fugitive in 2008

In March 2008 it was reported that Khalid Kelly is on the run. After the Danish cartoon controversy and subsequent arrests for having signs which said Kill those who insult the Prophet, Kelly fled the country and has been traveling the Muslim world looking for a place to bring his wife and two sons, Osama and the newborn Muhammed.

Living in Pakistan

In an newspaper interview in 2009, Khalid was reportedly living in the Swat Valley in Pakistan and was quoted during the interview as ready to travel to Afghanistan to fight against Coalition Forces : “Next week, inshallah, I could be in Afghanistan fighting a British soldier.”

He returned to Dublin in April 2010, claiming to have been deported from an Eastern European country and to have lost his passport.

Obama threat

In May 2011 Kelly was arrested for threatening to assassinate Barack Obama
Barack Obama assassination threats
Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, has been the target of several assassination threats and alleged plots since he first became a presidential candidate in 2007. Secret Service protection for Obama began after the Senator received a death threat in 2007, when Obama was still...

. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror
Sunday Mirror
The Sunday Mirror is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mirror. It began life in 1915 as the Sunday Pictorial and was renamed the Sunday Mirror in 1963. Trinity Mirror also owns The People...

he said that al-Qaeda was likely to kill Obama on his upcoming trip to Ireland. He reportedly said he would like to do it himself, but was too well known. He stated
Personally I would feel happy if Obama was killed. How could I not feel happy when a big enemy of Islam is gone?

See also

  • Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt
    Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt
    David Myatt, - also known as David Wulstan Myatt and formerly known as Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt - is the founder of The Numinous Way, a former British Muslim, and a former neo-nazi....

  • Abu Izzadeen
    Abu Izzadeen
    Abu Izzadeen , born Trevor Brooks , is a British spokesman for Al Ghurabaa, a Muslim organization banned under the Terrorism Act 2006 for the glorification of terrorism, that operated in the United Kingdom....

  • Anjem Choudary
    Anjem Choudary
    Anjem Choudary is a British former solicitor, and, before it was proscribed, spokesman for the Islamist group Islam4UK. He is married, has four children, and lives in Ilford, London....

  • Abu Uzair
    Abu Uzair
    Abu Uzair is a Muslim teacher and Islamist activist in The United Kingdom. He served as the leader of the The Saved Sect, an organisation the British government has designated and banned as terrorist, and a leading member of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah...

  • Hassan Butt
  • Andrew Ibrahim
    Andrew Ibrahim
    Andrew Philip Michael Ibrahim , is a British Muslim convert, also known as 'Isa Ibrahim' after his conversion to Islam. Ibrahim was arrested by police in the city of Bristol on suspicion of terrorism, and on 17 July 2009 convicted of Preparing terrorist acts. He is the son of an NHS consultant...

  • Sulayman Keeler
    Sulayman Keeler
    Sulayman Keeler is the leader of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, a British Islamist organization. He is a former member of Al-Muhajiroun, a designated and banned terrorist organization, and led the Society of Converts to Islam....

  • Abu Hamza al-Masri
    Abu Hamza al-Masri
    Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...

  • Omar Bakri Muhammad
    Omar Bakri Muhammad
    Omar Bakri Muhammad is an Islamist militant leader who was instrumental in developing Hizb ut-Tahrir into a major organization in the United Kingdom before leaving the group and heading another Islamist organisation, Al-Muhajiroun, until its disbandment in 2004.For several years Bakri was one of...


External links


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