Mohyeldeen Mohammad
Mohyeldeen Mohammad (born 1986) is an Iraqi-Norwegian Islamist, and political activist associated with the fundamentalist Profetens Ummah group. He became a controversial figure in Norway after stating that the country is at war with Muslims and warning the Norwegian people with an 11 September happening on Norwegian soil. Since then, his media profile has risen following a series of statements regarding Norway, homosexuality and Islamism. He was formerly a Sharia student at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, until he was deported from the country in 2011. Early life and education With a family background from Iraq, Mohammad was born in Manchester, England in 1986. His family migrated to Norway in 1989, and Mohammad settled with his family in Larvik. In September 2006, he legally changed his name to "Giovanni", the Italian equivalent to English "John" but claimed to mean "God is gracious". For unknown reasons, he reverted to his original name in January 2007. Mohammad started studying Islamic Sharia law at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia in September 2009. In March 2010, he was expelled from the university for being considered "politically active." Mohammad however appealed the verdict, and was allowed to continue studying at the university. Upon Mohammad's arrival in Medina on 8 September 2011, he was arrested by Saudi authorities. According to Saudi police, his arrest came as a result of "information" from Norwegian authorities, although it was not clear what his charges were. He returned to Norway on 12 September 2011. "Profetens Ummah" and later life Muhammad cartoon demonstration Mohammad became noted in the Norwegian public after holding a speech during an illegal demonstration of 3,000 Muslims in Oslo on 12 February 2010, against the newspaper Dagbladet after it had printed a cartoon depicting Muhammad as a pig writing the Quran in the context of illustrating a link by a user the newspaper criticised on the Norwegian Police Security Service's Facebook page. In his speech Mohammad proclaimed: "When will the Norwegian government and their media understand the serious matter of this? Perhaps not before it's too late. Perhaps not before we get an 11 September on Norwegian soil. This is not a threat, but a warning." His speech was condemned by the Islamic Council Norway, and reportedly by "a wide aspect" of the Norwegian Muslim community. A demonstration of Muslims against Mohammad's comments resulted in nine people showing up, some of whom held posters protesting the publication of the cartoon. The Syrian civil war Mohammad traveled to Syria in 2012, to participate in the Syrian civil war. Although it did not become known publicly until October that year, when he posted a series of photographs on-line, with himself posing alongside armed jihadists. One month later, he posted a video on the YouTube-website, where he, armed with automatic weapons warned Norwegian authorities against "spreading lies". Authorities speculated that he was a part of at least 30 Norwegian Islamists volunteering in the war. Upon returning to Norway sometime during the winter of 2012,