Michael Nikolai Skråmo, (born 2 November 1985, presumed dead in March 2019) was a Swedish-Norwegian terrorist and member of the Islamic State (ISIS).[1][2] He was a recruiter of IS-terrorists from the Nordic region.[3] His mother revealed to SVT that she had received information that her son had died in early March 2019,[4] during the final battles in the Syrian city of Al-Baghuz Fawqani.[5]
Michael Skråmo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 November 1985 Bergsjön, Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Nationality | Swedish, Norwegian |
| Other names | Abu Ibrahim Al-Swedi |
| Children | 7 |
Biography
editMichael Skråmo grew up in Gothenburg and also had Norwegian citizenship, training to become a chef.[6] He converted to Islam after becoming interested in religions during his school years.[6] In 2005, he travelled to Egypt where he studied the Arabic language and Islam, and after that he travelled throughout Sweden and Europe preaching salafism and announced his support for Islamic terrorist attacks.[3][7] While in Egypt he called himself Abdul Samad and became known under that name in the salafist movement's social media posts.[6][3] He told close relatives in Sweden that he planned to travel to Syria, but only told them that he would be working as a chef in an Islamic State controlled hospital.[6] He travelled from Gothenburg to Raqqa, Syria in 2014 along with his wife who also had converted to Islam, and he became a recruiter of members of the terrorist group by posting photos and videos of himself on social media wearing military clothes, using Facebook under the names of Abu Ibrahim Al-Swedi and Abdulsamad al-Swedi.[8] Al-Swedi is arabic for "the swede" and his recruitment targeted mostly Sweden and the other Nordic countries.[7][9][10] In videos on social media he called for terror cells in Europe to proceed to engage in terrorist attacks in Europe.[11]
His wife was killed in a grenade attack in Baghouz in north western Syria in December 2018.[12] In March 2019, during the final battle against ISIS in Baghouz it was reported by media that Skråmo had been arrested by Kurdish forces, but his name was missing from the official lists of captured IS terrorists; later on his mother in Sweden announced that she had received information about his death.[5][12][13] Norwegian security police opened an investigation into terrorism crimes committed by Michael Skråmo and he is wanted internationally by Interpol.[13][14] On 18 April, Swedish authorities announced that Skråmo's seven children would be able to leave the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria to be transported to the Swedish consulate in Erbil, Iraq.[15][16][17] The children which Skråmo fathered with his now deceased wife were transported to Erbil in early May, and on 14 May they returned to Sweden where they were placed in child protective custody.[18][19]
References
edit- ^ "Gothenburg Isis fighter's seven orphaned children one step closer to returning home". The Local Sweden. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Kassem Hamadé och Johan Ronge (14 March 2019). "Engelsk tv: IS-terroristen Michael Skråmo är död". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ a b c Ranstorp, Magnus; et al. (June 2017 – June 2018). "Mellan salafism och salafistisk jihadism – Påverkan mot och utmaningar för det svenska samhället" (PDF). Försvarshögskolan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ "Gothenburg-born Isis fighter killed in Syria: mother". The Local Sweden. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ a b Mokhtari, Arash; Klinghoffer, Sanna (17 March 2019). "IS-rekryteraren Skråmos mamma till SVT: Michael är död". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ a b c d Kassem Hamadé (14 December 2014). "Michael, 29, tog med familjen till IS i Syrien". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ a b Johan Ronge, Kassem Hamadé, Daniel Olsson och Carl-Fredrik Eriksson (5 April 2019). "Svenske IS-terroristen Michael Skråmo har gripits i Syrien". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Lundberg, Hannes; Hannes.l, Ersson (16 November 2016). "IS-svensken Michael Skråmo går rakt i journalistens fälla". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Klinghoffer, Sanna (5 March 2019). "Uppgifter: IS-rekryteraren Michael Skråmo gripen i Syrien". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ "Michael Skråmo förvandlades – göteborgaren blev IS-terrorist". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). 8 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ "Swedish Islamist convert in Isis viral video row". The Local Sweden. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ a b TT/SvD (15 May 2019). "Norsk-svensk IS-rekryterare gripen i Syrien". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
- ^ a b TT/Aftonbladet (12 March 2019). "Oklart om IS-rekryteraren Skråmo har gripits". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Dahlin, Patrik (5 March 2019). "Terrorforskaren om Michael Skråmo: Enklast om han ställs inför rätta i Norge". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ "Children of notorious IS fighter Michael Skråmo left orphaned and alone in caliphate after he is killed in Baghouz". ITV News. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ "Skråmos barn ett steg närmare Sverige – kan få lämna flyktingläger". Dagens Nyheter. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "Notorious IS fighter Michael Skråmo's orphaned children reunited with grandparent". ITV News. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Thomsen, Dante; Klinghoffer, Sanna (15 May 2019). "IS-terroristen Michael Skråmos sju barn har landat i Sverige". SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ "Seven orphaned children of Swedish Isis fighter rescued from Syria and reunited with grandfather". Yahoo News. Retrieved 15 May 2019.