LONDON: Syrian militants said on Thursday they would put a self-described aid worker from Britain on trial over alleged links with rival militant groups.
Tauqir Sharif, 33, from east London was detained by the Hyat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group in June and earlier this week it was announced he had been “released on bail.”
HTS, which controls large parts of north-western Syria, charged Sharif with “funding projects that incite division” and accuse him of using humanitarian aid funds to sow division across the Idlib region.
Sharif is the founder of Live Updates From Syria (LUFS), which he claims provides aid to people displaced by Syria’s nine-year-long civil war.
He was stripped of his UK citizenship in 2017 for alleged links to an unspecified group aligned with Al-Qaeda. Sharif denies the allegations.
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According to the LUFS Facebook page, Sharif was detained by armed members of HTS in Idlib on June 22 and held for several days without explanation.
HTS is an alliance of militia led by a former Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria that used to be known as the Al-Nusra Front. That group was designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN and US among others.
HTS’s propaganda arm Ebaa said on its website that Sharif would be brought before a local court in two weeks.
“The court informed him that the date of his hearing with the judiciary was after 15 days... and that during his release he could prepare his defence,” Ebaa said.
Soon after his detention, Sharif’s family started a campaign for his release and, on Wednesday, posted a video on Facebook showing him returning home after his bail release.
An update on the LUFS page said: “We pray Allah keeps him and his family safe and that he is cleared of all charges.”
