The Isis Rapper who ‘wanted to die fighting’ – but may still be alive
15 January 2019The last sign of life – or is it another ruse to escape justice…or continue the jihad?
His last rap song from the war zone was dedicated to his mother. He writes: “Mother, don’t be sad.”
He told her he’s coming home. But it seems he will never be back – unless, perhaps he returns from the dead, or the fake dead.
Marouane B., as he is known in criminal court papers, shares the same home town and the same year of birth as Shamima Begum’s Dutch husband Yago Riedijk. But while Riedijk is alive and in the custody of Syrian Kurdish forces, the jihadi rapper from Arnhem has vanished off the face of the Earth.
The lawyer representing Marouane Boulahyani, 23, refused to confirm whether she thinks her client is dead. Barbara Klunder pleaded with me not to ask the jihadi’s mother. Which may indicate she knows where he is. He’s announced his impending death more than once before.
Could it be a ruse to throw European security agencies off his trail?
In his last link-up with the West he so despises, he announced he was about to go into battle, attacking the forces surrounding the remnants of the vanishing Caliphate. He said he expected this time he would die. Like all jihadis, he expect to meet seventy virgins of Paradise there.
Correspondent.World has obtained the transcript of what Marouane Boulahyani said to a Dutch reporter.
Where are you now?
“The day after tomorrow [September 10 2018] I will take part in a large offensive. The troops of the tyrant [Syrian president Hafez] Assad have approached Deir ez-Zor. We will not surrender. They will try to occupy the area and oppress the population. But we will fight like lions and give our lives for the brothers in Syria. “
It sounds like you’re saying good-bye?
“I’m in a war zone, the risk is high. There’s a good chance that I will not return alive, that I will die as a martyr.”
How have you prepared for imminent death?
“I’ve contacted my family and friends to talk to them. Every conversation I have with my loved ones is a farewell conversation. I carefully choose my words, because every moment can be my last moment and every word can be my last word.”
Do you regret anything?
“I regret the mistakes I made in front of Allah. I also regret the behaviour I showed before I went to Syria. It hurts me that this behaviour caused my parents sleepless nights. “
What else would you like to say to your mother?
“That she should not grieve for her son who has become a martyr for the sake of Allah, but she must be happy, because I will be an advocate for her and my father at the Day of Judgment. “
Can you explain why you went to Syria?
“I am proud that by my actions in Syria. I’ve been able to make children, men and women happy. The cities where we came to, we were brought in as liberators. I feel connected to the Syrian people, because they are my brothers and sisters.”
If you could have turned the clock back, would you have gone?
“Things went differently than I thought. I expected, by fighting Assad, there would be a change in the civil war. In that we did not succeed, because the world is on the side of Assad. It certainly seems that way.
In January 2019 the Dutch government cancelled his nationality – the 13th time a Dutch citizen has been deprived of his citizenship since mid-2017.
The Dutch jihadi rapper can still appeal in writing – but only of course if he is still alive.
Boulahyani was allegedly part of the same gang of young men who were arrested in September 2018 in a holiday home where they were allegedly preparing a terrorist attack on a rock concert.
Marouane Boulahyani’s Facebook photo before he was radicalised