Associate of Manchester bomber found guilty of being Islamic State sniper
Mohammed Abdallah from Moss Side was identified in official IS documents
A British jihadi whose group had links to the Manchester Arena bomber is facing years in jail for being a member of Islamic State.
Twenty six year old Mohammed Abdallah was outed as an IS fighter last year when his IS registration document listing him as a specialist sniper'' was leaked to Sky News by a defector.
Following an Old Bailey trial, Abdallah, of Westerling Way, Moss Side, Manchester, was found guilty of possessing an AK47 gun, receiving £2,000 for terrorism and membership of IS.
Abdallah was remanded into custody until his sentencing tomorrow.
The court heard how the defendant arrived in Britain as a refugee at the age of three after his family fled the Gaddafi regime in Libya.
Abdallah went to Burnage High School in Manchester and Didsbury Mosque where suicide bomber Salman Abedi also attended, it can now be reported.
The defendant said he failed to pass any exams and was not particularly religious'', preferring to spend time drinking and smoking cannabis.
In the summer of 2014, Abdallah headed to Syria via Libya jurors heard.
His record, which had the IS flag in the top right-hand corner, listed his former occupation as supermarket vendor'', although jobless Abdallah told jurors he got by in Britain by stealing and selling cannabis.
In 2016, Sky News received files from an IS defector which listed Abdallah as a specialist sniper with expertise with the Dushka'', a Russian heavy machine gun, and fighting experience in Libya.
Giving evidence, Abdallah denied swearing allegiance, saying he only went to Syria to help deliver 5,000 dollars to the poor and someone else must have filled out the form without his knowledge.
Commenting on Abdallah's case, Detective Chief Superintendent Dominic Scally, head of counter terrorism policing for the North West, said: Hopefully this demonstrates that we take very seriously everybody who has travelled not just to Syria but to any area of conflict for extremist purposes.
This is a very positive investigation that's helped stop others travelling out and probably returning.'
It's very difficult for us to tell in any detail what happens on the ground in Syria and credit to investigators that they have managed to piece together the story.
This is the first time that we have produced the IS application forms as evidence.
It can now be reported that Abdallah's trial was delayed in the wake of the attack on the Manchester Arena over reported links with Abedi, who attended the same mosque as the defendant .