Two Islamic State extremists who planned the murder of an imam referred to him as “Voldemort” who was engaging in “black magic”, a public inquiry heard.

Father-of-seven Jalal Uddin, 71, died in a “brutal and ferocious” attack with a hammer in a children’s play area in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on February 18 2016, because his religious practices were deemed sacrilegious by his killers.

An inquiry examining whether intelligence failures contributed to Mr Uddin’s death by failing to spot and stop his extremist killers, sat in public for the first time today.

The hearing, at Liverpool Crown Court, first sat at the start of the month to hear evidence in “closed” sessions, not open to press or public.

Inquiry chairman Judge Thomas Teague KC ruled some evidence must not be made public and heard only in private sessions to prevent harm to the detection and prevention of terrorism and public safety.

Mohammed Kadir, then 24, is believed to have struck the fatal blows with a hammer and had planned the killing with former Manchester United steward Mohammed Syeedy, then 21, who drove Kadir to the scene and helped carry out surveillance on their target.

Kadir fled the UK three days after the killing and is thought to have headed to Syria, while Syeedy was in September 2016 convicted of murdering Mr Uddin and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 24 years.

Syeedy’s trial was told both men were sympathisers of the terrorist group calling itself Islamic State and consumed by hatred of Mr Uddin for his practise of Ruqyah, a form of exorcism, which the terror organisation considered “black magic”.

A third man, Mohammed Syadul Hussain, was convicted in April 2017 of helping Kadir leave the country and jailed for five years.

Opening the hearing, chairman Judge Teague said it was “deeply unfortunate” more than eight years had passed since Mr Uddin’s death and for “compelling legal reasons” it is impossible to hear all the evidence in public.

Jason Beer KC, counsel to the inquiry, said Mr Uddin, who first came to the UK from Bangladesh in 2002, was a scholar of the Koran and a very well-regarded member of the community in Rochdale and formerly an imam at the local Jalalia Mosque.

But his practice of Ruqyah, involving using amulets, made him a target for IS supporters, who believed Islam should be practised as in the seventh century.

Mr Beer said: “IS is said to have regarded this practise as black magic. The men who murdered Mr Uddin were supporters and followers of IS.

“The murder was motivated by their hatred of Mr Uddin as a practitioner of Ruquya.”

Mr Beer said in some mobile phone exchanges between the two that Mr Uddin was referred to as Voldemort, a reference to Lord Voldemort, a fictional character in the Harry Potter books.

A previous hearing heard from October 2015, Kadir was assessed and continued to be assessed as a person of high risk and significant concern, and latterly as someone who posed a risk of acting on his Islamist extremist aspirations.

And after police raided Syeedy’s home following the murder, phones and laptops revealed IS propaganda and material.

These included photos of both men doing the one finger IS salute, photos of IS flags draped over road signs in Rochdale and a photo of Syeedy with an IS flag on a street with a mosque.

In August 2015, Mr Uddin’s property including a book he used during Ruqyah was stolen from Jalalia Mosque and destroyed.

Kadir and Syeedy also planned to report him to the Border Force, as Mr Uddin was in the UK illegally.

But the inquiry heard in December 23, 2015, Mr Uddin was photographed with Simon Danczuk, the then-MP for Rochdale, at the door of Jalalia Mosque.

A phone exchange between the two plotters and others, stated: “Oh dear. Voldemort is never going to be busted by the immigration service now.”

Two months later, the two men launched the attack, leaving Mr Uddin dead.

Around 2,000 mourners attended his funeral, paid for by the local community.

The inquiry was adjourned until Tuesday morning.

Read More: Killing of Imam Jalal Uddin shows how extremism is morphing

A teenage Islamic State fanatic was reported by his mother as he plotted an attack on British police officers or soldiers, a court has heard

Muslim convert Matthew King, 19, expressed a desire to kill military personnel as he prepared to stake out a British Army barracks in Stratford, east London.

His plans, which he discussed with an online girlfriend, were thwarted after his mother reported him to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme, the Old Bailey was told.

King, from Wickford in Essex, pleaded guilty in January to preparation of terrorist acts between December 22 2021 and May 17 2022.

On Friday, his mother and siblings attended the start of his sentencing at the Old Bailey.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC said King’s mother had “done exactly the right thing” by contacting Prevent about her son.

Opening the facts of the case, prosecutor Paul Jarvis the court that the investigation into King’s activities “strongly indicates” he has an “entrenched Islamist extremist mindset, holds extreme anti-western views and intended to commit terrorist acts both in the UK and abroad”.

In his early teens, King had “dabbled with drugs” and was expelled from school after becoming aggressive, eventually leaving education at 16.

Around 2020, he became interested in Islam, began to attend mosques and watched Muslim videos on YouTube.

By May 2021, his family noticed he had become more extreme and his mother became concerned he was watching material online promoting hatred, Mr Jarvis said.

He had also developed a friendship with a girl identified only as Miss A, who he met online.

He told her about his jihadist intent, saying: “I just wanna die a martyr.”

When Miss A appeared to support and encourage him, King responded: “I guess jihadi love is powerful. I just want to kill people.”

In further graphic chat, Miss A talked about torturing, mutilating and beheading a soldier and then cutting up the body parts, the court was told.

Meanwhile, King had set up an online account with the retailer Knife Warehouse and bought “tactical gloves” and googles.

Mr Jarvis said: “Mr King’s younger sister told the police that one day her brother had entered her bedroom dressed in combat clothing and goggles. Mr King asked her if she liked his clothes.”

King made videos as he studied potential targets including Stratford Army barracks, police officers outside Stratford Magistrates’ Court and at the railway station.

Some of his reconnaissance videos were overlaid with nasheeds – Islamic chants – and he posted on Snapchat: “Target acquired.”

While planning acts of terrorism in Britain, King had also expressed a desire to travel to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State group.

The teenager sought advice on social media about the best route to cross the border into Syria and searched for IS tactical training videos in the use of knives.

The court heard King had also done web searches for terrorist killers including the Manchester Arena bomber and Jihadi John.

Authorities were alerted after King posted on WhatsApp an image of a male holding a knife with the words: “Those who said that there is no jihad and no battle. They are lying!”

King was arrested by counter-terrorism officers at his home on May 18 last year.

He described his former Islamic name as “Abdul Kalashnikov” and told police: “The only thing which is black and white is the sharia, the law of Allah.”

On being cautioned, he said: “I don’t believe in the UK law, the only law I believe in is the law of Allah.”

After hearing submission by King’s defence barrister Hossein Zahir KC, Judge Lucraft adjourned sentencing until May 26.

The brother of a British aid worker killed by a so-called Islamic State terror cell known as “the Beatles” has welcomed the conviction of one of their members, saying: “An eight-year chapter of pain for my family has finally come to an end.”

Mike Haines, whose brother David Haines was murdered by the barbaric group, said the conviction of 33-year-old Londoner El Shafee Elsheikh in a US court on Thursday “provided us with some closure”.

David was captured by militants in Syria in March 2013 while delivering aid to the war-torn country.

His murder the following year was used for propaganda by “the Beatles”, who were given the moniker because of their distinctive British accents.

Elsheikh and fellow Beatle Alexanda Kotey will be sentenced for their part in the gruesome plot later this month.

In a statement, Mike Haines said: “While nothing can truly compensate for the hole David’s murder left in our hearts, the verdict provides us with some closure and ensures that all three surviving members of the gang involved in my brother’s murder have now faced justice.”

The cell, also said to be made up of ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, and Aine Davis, was thought to be responsible for the brutal killings of several Western and Japanese captives, including Britons Alan Henning and Mr Haines.

The latter two did not form part of the indictment against Elsheikh and Kotey, the latter having already admitted his role in the atrocities, because the court was focusing only on US victims.

It is believed the pair may yet face court in the UK for the deaths of British nationals.

Mr Haines, who runs education charity Global Acts Of Unity in honour of his 44-year-old brother, said he is due to fly to the US for the sentencing hearing.

He said: “My brother and the many other innocent lives taken by this terrorist organisation were never afforded justice.

“This unanimous judgment is a triumph for society over ills like terrorism and helps differentiate us from the hateful, divisive ideologies that fuel these individuals.

“It must also act as a warning to anyone else seduced by the false glamour of extremism.”

Bethany Haines, the daughter of David Haines, said the conclusion of the trial was “a lot more emotional” than she expected.

Speaking after his conviction, Ms Haines told BBC One: “It was a lot more emotional than I expected.

“I expected to be happy, excited, but it’s the realisation that he’s guilty, what he’s done to all the families, all the hostages.

“I’ve not slept a full night’s sleep probably since my dad was killed in 2014 so hopefully tonight I’ll get a full night’s sleep.”

On Thursday, Elsheikh was convicted of eight counts relating to four US hostages, James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller, after a trial at the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

Following the verdict, Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met’s counter terrorism command, said the force had provided evidence to the US court.

He added: “This evidence has contributed to the overall prosecution case, and enabled our colleagues in the US to ensure this man has been brought to justice for some of the most evil and terrible crimes imaginable.

“It shows how we, along with our international partners, are absolutely determined to identify and bring those responsible for extremely serious terrorist offences to justice, even if those offences have been committed on foreign soil.”

Elsheikh, Kotey and Emwazi all knew each other in England before joining IS, the court was told.

Elsheikh was captured alongside Kotey in Syria in 2018 by the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces while trying to escape to Turkey.

Last year, Kotey pleaded guilty to eight counts relating to his involvement, while Davis was jailed in Turkey and Emwazi was killed in a drone strike.

Former Defence Forces soldier Lisa Smith “enveloped herself in the black flag” of the so-called Islamic State, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

The Co Louth woman, 39, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of membership of the illegal organisation and of providing funds to benefit the group.

Sean Gillane SC, for the prosecution, told the court that the accused’s conduct during the period between 2015 and 2019 when she travelled to Syria could “prove membership” of the terror organisation.

He said the court would hear evidence that Smith had taken part in “hijrah”, or migration to territories controlled by the Islamic State.

“Hijrah in this context is a central act of allegiance to this proto-State, without which the organisation cannot survive. It is the very lifeblood of the Islamic State,” Mr Gillane told the court.

“IS needed fighters but also those who could give sustenance and vitality to the group.”

He said that participation in that act of hijrah was to “self-identify as a member” of the organisation.

Mr Gillane added: “There is no duality or split between a good Islamic State and a bad one, into which one might fall through happenstance or misfortune.”

He said the evidence would show that Smith willingly remained in Syria, married there and that her movements mirrored that of the terror group when they lost territories in the region.

The prosecutor said there was a “reciprocity” to Ms Smith’s allegiance to IS, in that she had received “protection” while in the region.

“Ms Smith specifically addressed, assessed and answered the call to migrate to territory controlled by IS,” Mr Gillane said.

“Every inch of that territory was won by a targeted campaign of violence.”

Mr Gillane said the evidence would show that Smith was part of a Telegram group in June 2015 that discussed a video by the Islamic State showing the drowning of five men in a cage.

He said the members discussed why they had been drowned, with Smith responding: “OK, I understand why they were drowned. I didn’t know half of the story.”

The court heard that the accused had begun her trip to Syria October 2015, and that she had lied to family members about her destination.

Smith bought a one-way ticket from Dublin to Istanbul, which was paid for in cash, the court heard.

From there, she crossed the border into Syria and IS-controlled territory.

When she arrived, she was instructed to change the security settings on her phone, and to join another group on the private messaging service Telegram, the court was told.

Around this time, Smith “made clear to her family her desire to stay”, the court heard.

On Tuesday the court heard from the first witness, Una McCartney, from Dundalk, a friend of Smith’s for between 15 and 20 years.

She told the court that she and Smith had had plenty of discussions about religion around the time of her conversion to Islam around 2007.

Ms McCartney described them as “normal discussions” regarding different beliefs in Catholicism and Islam.

She said Smith had discussed moving to a Muslim country because she wanted to be “surrounded by people who were the same faith as her”, but said she did not recall Smith stating any intention to travel to Syria.

Under cross-examination by Michael O’Higgins SC for the defence, Ms McCartney said Smith has a troubled background.

“I don’t think her home life growing up was too great. Her dad was an alcoholic, I think he probably was a bit violent,” she told the court.

“We all enjoyed drinking, partying, myself included. We were probably a bit wild.”

Ms McCartney added: “Drink didn’t really suit her.”

The witness told the court that she believed Smith’s interest in Islam would “fizzle out” over time.

“She would go hell for leather with things in the beginning and then it would fizzle out. I thought this would fizzle out as well.”

Ms McCartney agreed with Mr O’Higgins that the accused had been “vulnerable” at the time.

“My impression was she needed help or counselling. She had burned bridges with some of her friends,” the witness said.

Ms McCartney said the accused may have turned to Islam to find some solace.

She recalled her Garda interview in which she described Smith as “very naive and easily taken in by somebody promising her something”.

The case received widespread attention in 2019 when it emerged that Smith, a former Air Corps soldier who had worked on the Government jet, had been detained in Syria over alleged links to IS.

Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter.

She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam.

Smith is charged under Section Six of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 which makes it an offence to join a foreign unlawful organisation.

It is alleged that between October 28 2015 and December 1 2019 at a location outside the State, she was a member of a terrorist group styling itself as the Islamic State.

She has also been accused of financing terrorism by sending 800 euro in assistance by Western Union money transfer to a named individual in 2015.

Smith has denied the charges.

A former member of the Defence Forces is seeking to have charges of being a member of so-called Islamic State (IS) and financing terrorism dropped at the Special Criminal Court.

Lawyers for Louth woman Lisa Smith, 39, have made an application for the case against her to be dismissed.

It is expected that they will argue there is not sufficient evidence to convict their client on any of the charges.

The case received widespread attention in 2019 when it emerged that Smith, a former Air Corps soldier who had worked on the Government jet, had been detained in Syria over alleged links to IS.

Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter.

She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam.

Smith is charged under Section Six of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 which makes it an offence to join a foreign unlawful organisation.

It is alleged that between October 28, 2015 and December 1 2019 at a location outside the State, she was a member of a terrorist group styling itself as the Islamic State.

She has also been accused of financing terrorism, by sending 800 euro in assistance by Western Union money transfer to a named individual in 2015.

She has denied the charges.

The trial was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but the non-jury court will first have to deal with pre-trial application.

Read more: IS Bride, Lisa Smith, Was Not A Member of a Terrorist Group, Solicitor Claims

Gunmen from the so-called Islamic State extremist group attacked a village northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding six others, Iraqi security officials said.

The officials said the attack occurred in the predominantly Shiite village of al-Rashad northeast of Baqouba in Diyala province.

The circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear, but two officials said Islamic State group militants had kidnapped two villagers earlier and then raided the village when their demands for ransom were not met.

Machine guns were used in the attack, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

They said all the dead and wounded were civilians.

Attacks targeting civilians have become rare in Iraq since the Islamic State group was largely defeated in the country in 2017, although it remains active through sleeper cells in many areas.

Militants from the Sunni Muslim extremist group still conduct operations, often targeting security forces, power stations and other infrastructure.

A roadside bomb attack targeted a Baghdad suburb in July, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens of others at a crowded market.

In January, twin suicide bombings ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital, killing at least 32 people and wounding dozens.

Iraqi officials blamed IS for those attacks.

Read more: Islamic State attacks Iraqi police near Najaf, kills seven

A British terrorist who conspired to abduct and behead Western hostages for the so-called Islamic State is facing spending the rest of his life behind bars after pleading guilty to multiple charges in a US federal court.

Alexanda Amon Kotey, 37, was one of the gang of four IS militants nicknamed “the Beatles” by their captives due to their British accents.

The cell – said to be made up of ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, Aine Davis, El Shafee Elsheikh and Kotey – was allegedly responsible for the brutal killings of a number of Western and Japanese captives, including Britons Alan Henning and David Haines.

The slayings sparked outrage and revulsion around the world after being broadcast in graphic detail.

Kotey, who grew up in London, attended a two-hour change of plea hearing at US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday and pleaded guilty to eight charges.

They were four counts of hostage taking resulting in death, conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death, conspiracy to murder United States citizens outside of the United States, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists – hostage taking and murder – resulting in death and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation resulting in death.

Kotey has agreed to fully co-operate with authorities as part of his plea agreement, the court was told.

Diane Foley, mother of slain US hostage James Foley, said it was “chilling” being in court with Kotey, and urged the Briton to give up information about the Beatles’ atrocities.

She told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: “I didn’t get any indication he’s interested in (making amends) but I hope in time he might, just because the extent of the evil he has committed is – I just don’t know how any soul could live with all that.

“All of us would like to know where the remains of our children are.”

Kotey addressed the court to outline his involvement in the atrocities. He was repeatedly interrupted by District Judge TS Ellis who told him his statement was more suitable for the sentencing hearing.

In a prepared summary, he said he left the UK for Syria in August 2012 alongside Emwazi.

He said he left in order to “engage in the military fight against the Syrian army forces of president Bashar Assad”.

Kotey said when he departed the UK he held “the belief and understanding that the Islamic concept of armed jihad was a valid and legitimate cause and means by which a Muslim defends his fellow Muslim against injustice”.

He admitted his role in capturing hostages and said when his involvement in that came to an end, he worked in IS’s recruitment division, as a sniper and in the terror group’s “English media department”.

Kotey said while working for IS he came into contact with Mr Henning, Mr Haines and John Cantlie, a British war correspondent who disappeared in 2012 and who remains missing.

He told the court: “Upon the orders of the Islamic State senior leadership, I, along with others, opened up channels of negotiation with the authorities, families and representatives of those captured and held by the Islamic State.

“This involved me visiting the detention facilities where the foreign captives were being held and interacting with them in every capacity that would further the prospects of our negotiation demands being met.”

Kotey said his job would be to “extract” contact details for loved ones of those taken hostage.

The terrorists would then demand the release of Islamic prisoners held by the West or large sums of money in return for the hostages’ freedom.

Kotey said: “I had no doubt that any failure of those foreign governments to comply with our demands would ultimately result in the indefinite detention of those foreign captives or their executions. ”

He said he was not physically present at any of the killings of the Western captives.

Kotey was captured alongside Elsheikh in Syria in 2018 by the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces while trying to escape to Turkey.

Details of Kotey’s plea agreement were read out in court, revealing the Briton has agreed to fully co-operate with the US government.

He will provide “full, complete and truthful” evidence to not only the US but all foreign governments.

Kotey will provide all relevant documents, meet with victims’ families if they wish to do so and voluntarily submit to a lie detector test.

However, the terrorist will not be compelled to give evidence in court against co-defendant Elsheikh, the hearing was told.

As part of the plea agreement, Kotey could be transferred to the UK after spending 15 years behind bars in the US in order to face justice in the country of his birth.

The court was told Kotey would plead guilty in the UK and would likely be handed a life sentence for the deaths of hostages including Mr Henning and Mr Haines.

However, if he is not given a life term, Kotey will complete his life sentence handed down in the US, either in America or in the UK.

Prosecutor Dennis Fitzpatrick, of the United States Attorney’s Office read out the evidence against Kotey, outlining his role in the atrocities, including subjecting the hostages to brutal treatment.

They were terrorised with mock executions, shocks with tasers, physical restraints and other brutal acts.

Kotey and Elsheikh were brought to the US last year to face charges on the condition they would not be given a death sentence.

While Kotey has now pleaded guilty, there was no update on Elsheikh, who is scheduled to stand trial in January.

Emwazi was killed by a US drone strike in 2015 while Davis is serving a sentence in a Turkish jail.

Former aircraft engineer and humanitarian Mr Haines, 44, from Perth in Scotland, was beheaded in Syria in 2014 after being held prisoner for 18 months.

Cab driver-turned-aid worker Mr Henning, 47, from Lancashire, was also beheaded in 2014 after being captured by extremists in Syria.

Kotey was also charged in relation to the killings of four American hostages – journalists Mr Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

Family members of the American victims were in court to hear details of the charges and watch Kotey plead guilty.

Kotey and Elsheikh had taken part in and been arrested during a demonstration outside the US embassy in London in 2011 in support of the 9/11 attacks.

They travelled to Syria the following year.

Kotey will be sentenced on March 4 next year.

A man who planned to wreak terror during the pandemic was no clownish buffoon but a “very dangerous individual”, according to a senior counter-terrorism police officer.

Commander Richard Smith rejected Sahayb Abu’s wannabe rapper persona, as the 27-year-old was found guilty of preparing a terror act.

During the trial, jobless convicted burglar Sahayb Abu described his rap alter ego, the Masked Menace, and his dreams to make a fortune selling healthy drinks and set up an African charity.

In reality, he spent virtually all his £400 monthly benefits on a large sword, camouflage kit and bulletproof vest as he spread his pro-Islamic State views, the Old Bailey heard.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Smith said: “I have no doubt whatsoever that Sahayb had absolutely committed murderous intent in his preparations to carry out a terrorist act.”

Mr Smith, who is head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said there are currently 800 live investigations with no let-up despite Covid-19.

“What this case illustrates is the fact that, despite the pandemic and lockdown, the threat from terrorism has not gone away.

“We still face a substantial threat in this country which means an attack is likely.

“In the same way, the pandemic has not stopped people planning and preparing attacks like this, neither has it stopped our capability of detecting them and prosecuting, and we and our partners at MI5 will do all we can to keep people in this country safe from terrorism.”

Mr Smith described Somalia-born Sahayb Abu as a “very dangerous individual”.

”During the course of the investigation we saw him seeking to acquire a sword, getting hold of a knife, camouflage clothing and a ballistic vest, all with the intent of carrying out a terrorist attack in this country.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Sahayb had murderous intent – some of that was evidenced from the kind the things that he was posting online.”

Jurors heard some extended family members had been linked to extremism, including two half-brothers who are believed to have been killed in Syria.

Sahayb Abu also mingled with convicted terrorists while in jail and went on to join an Islamic State supporters’ chat group on Telegram.

On how he was radicalised, Mr Smith said: “I will not comment on the cause but I will say that nobody is born with hatred and intolerance within them.

“There needs to be some malign influence to spark that, and, once that’s happened, being surrounded by others with extremist views, whether that’s online or face to face, would certainly act to reinforce some of those hate-filled and abhorrent mindsets.”

Sahayb Abu had searched for various London embassies online and singled out a prominent Shia Muslim cleric, yet neither the police nor prosecution identified a specific target for the attack.

Mr Smith praised the courage of the undercover police officer, known as Rachid, who engaged with Sahayb Abu in encrypted chat and then met him twice.

The case underlined the “huge value” of covert officers as they came up against some “very dangerous, very volatile individuals”.

Mr Smith added: “It demands huge courage and incredible technical and professional skill from those officers and I absolutely applaud their bravery when they support this type of investigation.”

Read more: Rapping Jihadi bought 18in sword amid terror plot, court told

Pope Francis has called on Iraq’s Christians to forgive the injustices committed against them by Islamic extremists.

The call came as he visited the wrecked shells of churches and met ecstatic crowds in the community’s historic heartland, which was nearly erased by the so-called Islamic State group’s horrific reign.

At each stop in northern Iraq the remnants of its Christian population turned out, jubilant and decked out in colourful dress, though heavy security prevented Francis from plunging into the crowd as he would normally do.

Nonetheless, they seemed simply overjoyed that they had not been forgotten. It was a sign of the desperation for support among an ancient community uncertain whether it can hold on.

Traditionally Christian towns dotting the Nineveh Plains of the north were emptied as Christians – as well as many Muslims – fled the Islamic State group’s onslaught in 2014. Only a few have returned to their homes since the defeat of IS in Iraq, which was declared four years ago, and the rest remain scattered elsewhere in Iraq or abroad.

Bells rang out in the town of Qaraqosh as the Pope arrived. Speaking to a packed Church of the Immaculate Conception, Francis said “forgiveness” is a key word for Christians.

“The road to a full recovery may still be long, but I ask you, please, not to grow discouraged. What is needed is the ability to forgive, but also the courage not to give up.”

The Qaraqosh church has been extensively renovated after being vandalised by IS militants during their takeover of the town, making it a symbol of recovery efforts.

For the Vatican, the continued presence of Christians in Iraq is vital to keeping alive faith communities that have existed there since the time of Christ. The population has dwindled from around 1.5 million before the 2003 US-led invasion that plunged the country into chaos to just a few hundred thousand today.

Francis’s visit to Iraq aimed to encourage them to stay and help rebuild the country and restore what he called its “intricately designed carpet” of faith and ethnic groups.

In striking images earlier on Sunday, Francis, dressed in white, took to a red carpet stage in a square in the north’s main city, Mosul, surrounded by the grey hollowed-out shells of four churches, nearly destroyed in the war to oust the Islamic State group from the city.

It was a scene that would have been unimaginable years earlier. Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was at the heart of the IS so-called “caliphate” and witnessed the worst of the group’s rule inflicted on Muslims, Christians and others, including beheadings and mass killings.

“How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilisation, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow,” Francis said, “with ancient places of worship destroyed and many thousands of people – Muslims, Christians, Yazidis – who were cruelly annihilated by terrorism – and others forcibly displaced or killed.”

He deviated from his prepared speech to address the plight of Iraq’s Yazidi minority, which was subjected to mass killings, abductions and sexual slavery at the hands of IS.

“Today, however, we reaffirm our conviction that fraternity is more durable than fratricide, that hope is more powerful than hatred, that peace more powerful than war,” he said.

The square where he spoke is home to four different churches – Syriac Catholic, Armenian-Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldean – each left in ruins.

IS inflicted atrocities against all communities, including Muslims, during its three-year rule across much of northern and western Iraq. But the Christian minority was hit especially hard.

The militants forced them to choose among conversion, death or the payment of a special tax for non-Muslims. Thousands fled, leaving behind homes and churches that were destroyed or commandeered by the extremists.

Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, became IS’s bureaucratic and financial backbone. It was from Mosul’s al-Nuri mosque that then-IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance when he gave a Friday sermon calling on all Muslims to follow him as “caliph”.

It took a ferocious nine-month battle to finally free the city in July 2017, during which between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians were killed, according to an AP investigation at the time. Al-Baghdadi was killed in a US raid in Syria in 2019.

The war left a swath of destruction across Mosul and the north, and many Iraqis have been left on their own to rebuild amid a long financial crisis.

The Rev Raed Kallo was among the few Christians who returned to Mosul after IS was defeated.

“My Muslim brothers received me after the liberation of the city with great hospitality and love,” he said on stage before the pontiff.

Before IS, he had a parish of 500 Christian families. Most emigrated abroad, and now only 70 families remain, he said. “But today I live among two million Muslims who call me their Father Raed,” he said.

Gutayba Aagha, the Muslim head of the Independent Social and Cultural Council for the Families of Mosul, encouraged other Christians to return.

“In the name of the council I invite all our Christian brothers to return to this, their city, their properties and their businesses,” he said.

Throughout his four-day visit, Francis has delivered a message of inter-religious tolerance and fraternity to Muslim leaders, including in an historic meeting on Saturday with Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

At Qaraqosh, Francis urged its residents to continue to dream, and forgive.

“Forgiveness is necessary to remain in love, to remain Christian,” he said.

Public health experts had expressed concerns ahead of the trip that large gatherings could serve as super-spreader events for coronavirus in a country suffering from a worsening outbreak where few have been vaccinated.

Later, thousands of people filled a sports stadium in the northern city of Irbil for Francis’ final event in his visit to Iraq: an open-air mass featuring a statue of the Virgin Mary that was restored after Islamic militants chopped of the head and hands.

The statue was transported from the church in Keramlis, a Christian village on the Nineveh Plains, to a place of honour on the altar for Sunday’s mass.

Keramlis, an ancient Assyrian town less than 18 miles from Mosul, fell to IS in August 2014, two months after the extremists took Mosul and its surrounding areas, sending most inhabitants fleeing. In Keramlis, they destroyed the interior of St Adday church and decapitated the statue of the Madonna.

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An aspiring rapper accused of plotting a terror attack has told jurors he made pro-Islamic State comments online for a “thrill” in lockdown.

Sahayb Abu, 27, allegedly bought an 18in sword, knife, body armour, balaclavas and a hat in preparation for a strike last summer.

He also discussed guns with an undercover police officer he met through an IS supporters’ Telegram chat group, it is claimed.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, the convicted burglar claimed he had an “epiphany” upon his release from prison in March last year.

He said he made numerous searches for IS online for news of his half-brothers Wail and Suleyman Aweys, who are believed to have died in Syria in 2016.

Cross-examining Abu on Monday, prosecutor John McGuinness QC said: “You say you were not radicalised while you were in prison.

“You told the police in your interview that the memory of what happened to Suleyman and Wail haunts you to the present day.

“You told police that your view was Isis needed to answer for your brothers.”

Abu agreed he had a grudge against IS and “would not care” if the terror group was bombed to bits.

He told jurors he was no Mother Teresa or Dalai Lama, and “pro-violence” online posts were just “trolling”.

Mr McGuinness said: “How did that fit in with the new man leaving prison?”

Abu said: “This happened during lockdown. Nothing to do. The phone became a kind of portal. Being a troll.”

The prosecutor asked Abu about one post on Islam being a religion of “war”.

He said: “That post could have been posted by somebody who believes in the ideas of IS, do you agree? And those are your words.

“Bearing in mind the personal tragedy that had befallen your family because of the activities of IS, why post something like that?”

Abu replied: “Because it would bring a thrill to my life. I know it’s sad. I know it’s pathetic.”

Mr McGuinness asked: “Didn’t you think, ‘this is exactly the sort of thing that caused me to lose two of my brothers’? You chose to make those words pro-IS. It’s IS sentiment.

“Didn’t those words choke in your mouth as you were typing?

“Or the other explanation is that these posts represent the way that you felt and thought at the time.”

Abu replied: “It was just quarantine. I became pathetic. I’m sorry. I apologise.”

Mr McGuinness went on: “I’m suggesting you did mean these words at the time.

“If you were really telling the jury the truth about IS and the effect the death of your two brothers had on you, you would not have made posts like that.

“You did what your brothers did, you joined them. You became an IS supporter.”

Abu replied: “No, I did not support them at all. I wanted to do good things in my life.”

Abu, of Dagenham in Essex, has denied preparing an act of terrorism before his arrest in July last year.

His brother Muhamed Abu, 32, of Norwood, south London, has pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.

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