Melbourne imam named by accused hijack pilot vows to ‘fast from talking’

The imam of a Melbourne mosque linked by United Arab Emirates officials to the accused flydubai hijacker has vowed to “fast from talking”, and declared that critics are too “fixated” for words to alter their views.

In a video uploaded to social media, Abu Hamza – also known as Samir Mohtadi – described recent abuse and “false accusation[s]”, but did not directly respond to the allegations levelled against the Islamic centre, MyCentre in Broadmeadows. UAE officials allege accused terrorist Hammam al-Hammami became radicalised in 2017 while studying in Australia, and that while in Australia he was also associated with the mosque. This masthead is not suggesting MyCentre or Hamza were involved in any wrongdoing.

On September 30, al-Hammami, 29, was co-pilot on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. He is accused of attacking the captain with the intent of crashing the plane into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, until he was overpowered by passengers.

In the video uploaded to social media, Hamza said: “You find those who are righteous; they’ve always been attacked, abused, accused, killed, imprisoned – and this is the way it is.

“I’m going to fast from talking because there are circumstances, my beloved brothers and respected sisters, regardless how much you explain yourself to people, that’s it, they’re fixated with their ideas – and that’s it. You can’t change them. So the best thing, sometimes, is not to say anything.”

According to UAE authorities, al-Hammami began gravitating “towards extremism and terrorism” in 2017 when he was studying in Australia, where he was influenced by radical ideology.

“During that period, he was influenced by takfiri [radical] ideology through reading extremist literature and following online content glorifying terrorist organisations and suicide attacks,” the UAE’s attorney-general said in the statement.

“[Al-Hammami] stated that the centre was managed by a Lebanese man known as Abu Hamza and allegedly received support from an association linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Australian authorities have not confirmed any of the allegations detailed in the UAE’s statement, published last week by its state-operated news agency. This masthead is not suggesting MyCentre or Hamza intentionally taught al-Hammami to engage in violence or terrorism, or were involved in any wrongdoing.

Hamza is described on MyCentre’s website as its community leader.

Al-Hammami was pursuing a mechanical engineering degree at Melbourne’s RMIT University. According to an article published by Emirates News Agency, he had admitted regularly attending a mosque affiliated with the university, where he became acquainted with individuals associated with MyCentre.

The Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team is investigating al-Hammami’s time in Australia, including his time studying at RMIT University.

London’s Financial Times reported that Australia’s intelligence services had opened a file on al-Hammami while he was living in Melbourne. However, a senior source in the national security community strongly denied this.

Al-Hammami might have been included in a database or mentioned in relation to someone else but had not been investigated by ASIO at a serious level, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

You've used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.