Sri Lanka attack mastermind used chatrooms to sway suicide bombers

While Sri Lanka Easter suicide attacks mastermind Zahran Hashim used social media to publicly call for death of n-Muslims, he worked for months in private chatrooms to persue six young men to sacrifice mselves, Muslim community leers say.

Christians and foreign tourists were bly hit in attacks on three churches and three hotels that killed 257 people, but Sri Lanka's Muslim community has also been bly scarred and has been looking into backgrounds of Hashim and his jihist acolytes.

Hashim, who died in an attack on Shangri-La hotel on April 21, inspired wealthy brors Ilham Ibrahim and Inshaf Ibrahim to join and bankroll his assault, police and fellow Muslims said.

"We suspect two brors used ir money from spice business to finance bombings," one police investigator said.

"It seems indoctrination was via internet - Facebook and YouTube." Neighbours of Ibrahim brors said y were secretive but devout Muslims. y were t active members of a congregation, community leers said.

"We believe Zahran ricalised se people using Facebook," said R. Abdul Razik, a leer of moderate Ceylon Thowheed Jama'ath (CTJ) group.

"Especially in past year, he has been openly calling for killing of n-Muslims." Investigators and community leers believe group also used social media private messenges to keep in touch without being ticed by authorities.

CTJ and main body of Islamic clerics, All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, h alerted Sri Lanka's security establishment to Hashim and his acolytes, but said ir warnings failed to get serious attention.

Sri Lankan government has alrey ackwledged that foreign intelligence warnings about attacks were t passed on to ministers.

RE | Sri Lanka Bans Local Islamist Extremist Outfits Linked To ISIS In Aftermath Of Easter Sunday Blasts

"We asked intelligence ncies to take down Facebook p of Zahran because he was polluting minds of Sri Lankan Muslims," Razik said.

"We were told it is better to allow him to have p so that authorities could keep an eye on what he was doing." Ar moderate Islamic group, Sri Lanka Thowheed Jama'ath (SLTJ) said it called a press conference in 2017 to warn authorities about Hashim, but action was taken.

"Zahran indoctrinated people using social media. He was spewing an IS brand of propaganda that somehow appealed to bombers," SLTJ spokesman Thawseef Ahamed told AFP.

A fuller reckoning of those involved in attacks was only released by authorities this week, revealing at least two sets of brors.

Ilham Ibrahim died at Shangri-La hotel while his bror Inshaf Ibrahim bombed Cinnamon Grand.

Ringleer Hashim also died at Shangri-la, while his yet-to-be named bror blew himself up when surrounded on April 26 near eastern coastal town of Kalmunai. He was with three widows of Easter bombers when police and troops laid siege to house.

Sixteen people were killed re, including six children, relatives of Hashim, and members of his National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) movement, which has since been banned.

pregnant wife of Ilham Ibrahim, Fathima Ilham, blew herself up when police raided family home in Colombo hours after bombings. She also killed her two children and three police officers.

Mohamed Azzam Mubarak Mohamed has been named as bomber who targeted Kingsbury hotel in Colombo. His wife is w in police custody.

A fourth hotel was on bombers' list. would-be attacker, Abdul Laef, failed to set off his explosives. He detonated it a few hours later at a small motel, killing himself and two or people.

Laef studied aeronautical engineering at Kingston University in Britain and did post-gruate studies in Melbourne, Australia. Australian media said he was under investigation in 2014 by country's counter-terrorism unit and may have travelled to Syria.

He also came into contact with Hashim through Facebook posts and Youtube videos.

men who bombed three churches have been named as Ahmed Muaz, Mohamed Hasthun and Mohamed Nasser Mohamed As. three were hardly kwn within ir communities, according to Muslim leers. 

RE | Sri Lanka Top Cop Resigns Over Failure To Avert Easter Bombings: President Maithripala Sirisena