A BRITISH jihadist forced Jewish hostages to their knees and threatened to shoot them in the head before FBI agents killed him, an inquest heard.
Islamic extremist Malik Faisal Akram, 44, held the four at a Texas synagogue to demand an al-Qaeda prisoner’s release.
FBIMalik Faisal Akram forced Jewish hostages to their knees and threatened to shoot them in the head before FBI agents killed him[/caption]
Akram, of Blackburn, fired a warning shot in the air as he made the threat in a final phone call to the FBI.
He was killed when armed agents stormed the synagogue minutes later on January 15 2022.
The dad-of-six had owned five pharmacies which closed down when his marriage broke up.
He was subject to a domestic violence protection court order in 2016 to protect his wife, the Preston inquest heard
Coroner James Adeley recorded that he had “detained hostages and died after being shot by federal agents”.
Associates in Blackburn said he became increasingly religious and had quarrelled with his wider family in the months before his death.
He had spent much of the year before the attack in Pakistan.
It emerged after the kidnap drama that Akram had previously been the subject of a low-level investigation by MI5 but the case was closed after a month.
He travelled to New York on December 29 2021, and then on to Dallas, where he purchased a black market handgun.
Akram talked his way into a synagogue in nearby Colleyville, holding a rabbi and three Jewish worshippers hostage.
The inquest revealed that the service was being live-streamed to other members of the congregation because of the Covid epidemic.
They were able to alert police after Akram was let into the building, claiming he was homeless.
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