He calls himself Abu Isa Andaluzi and as far as British secret services are concerned, he grew up in Portugal.
Andaluzi (real name Celso Rodrigues da Costa) is just one of a number of Portuguese under investigation by MI5 for their connections with al-Qaeda, writes Correio da Manhã.
He is believed to have been recruited in Leyton, East London, where as many as 10 Portuguese are thought to be actively involved in recruiting Portuguese Muslims to their cause.
Costa came to the attention of the authorities earlier this month when he appeared in a video posted in an account linked to al-Qaeda in which he appealed to the people of the Ukraine, women included, to join Islamic jihadists fighting in Syria.
British and foreign security services used facial identification programmes and accent analysis to hone in on Andaluzi’s real identity.
According to the paper, they concluded that he is 29-year-old Costa, born in Lisbon and raised in Sintra.
Around ten years ago, Costa and two brothers moved to England to study. “It was there they adhered to the Islamic cause”, writes the paper.
Reporting on the video in which Costa appears holding an AK47 rifle – his face largely obscured by a balaclava – the Guardian developed the story, writing that “MI5 is concerned that jihadists from across Europe are collecting in Syria and that they may pool knowledge to launch attacks on the west”.
Portuguese are among 74 different nationalities participating in the Syrian jihad, Shiraz Mahar of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, in London, told the paper.
As the head of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism Charles Farr told Guardian reporter Duncan Gardham, the situation is “extremely hazardous”.
For now, counter terrorism agents in Portugal are thought to be helping MI5 piece together stories such as those behind the recruitment of Costa and his brothers.
As Correio da Manhã reported over the weekend, “in Leyton alone there are around ten Portuguese known to have links to al-Qaeda who are trying long-distance to recruit young muslims living in Portugal”.
Intriguingly, Costa is described online as an ex-footballer of Arsenal, “a promise in football who grew up with Cristiano Ronaldo but turned away from money in the name of Allah”.
Contacted by the Guardian, a spokesman for Arsenal football club said: “We do not recognise the individual from the published clips and we don’t have any record of a Mr Celso Rodrigues Da Costa representing the club at any level.”
