Parents of ‘terrorist’ plead: ‘dear son, please surrender’

Dear Andreas, if you are really in Uganda, we ask you to come forward. It is not too late.

We are certain there is a way for you to proceed so that you can achieve what you want for yourself without getting yourself or other people into trouble

The family of terror suspect Ahmed Khaled Mueller, who is believed to be on the run in Uganda, has made a sensational appeal, imploring him to hand himself over to the authorities.

According to an e-mail, a copy of which The Observer obtained from a source at a German newspaper, Mueller’s family urges him to surrender.

“Dear Andreas, if you are really in Uganda, we ask you to come forward. It is not too late. We are certain there is a way for you to proceed so that you can achieve what you want for yourself without getting yourself or other people into trouble. We trust you that you haven’t done anything wrong. We love you so much,” the parents’ e-mail reads in part.

‘Andreas Martin Mueller’ was the name Ahmed Khaled Mueller used before he converted to Islam in 1999. His picture has been circulated by the police to assist in his arrest.

According to our source in Germany, who has been in contact with the family since news broke that their son was on the wanted list of terrorists  in Kenya, Ahmed Khaled Mueller was born in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

“He grew up in a normal German family. He was a very good student at school and took up study at university, but did not finish it. At that time he met Muslims in a sports club and got involved with them. He converted to Islam in 1998/99,” says the source, adding: “German authorities are not investigating him for any crime whatsoever. He has never been known to be violent and never was convicted for any crime in Germany.”

Mueller is believed to have undergone spiritual transformation for a decade, an adventure of purpose and renewal, where he set out to master the lexicon of radical Islam.

“He turned into an Islamist with strong views, but was never known to be a supporter of violence. He tried to emigrate to Bosnia and the United Arab Emirates, but it didn’t work out. His reason was, as he always stated, that he wanted to live in a truly Muslim society because he didn’t think that was possible in Germany,” says the source, relaying information he obtained from Mueller’s family.

In 2009, Khaled Mueller was apprehended when he tried to enter Pakistan. Authorities there held him for months. They suspected at the time that he was trying to make contacts with either al-Qaeda or Taliban militants, but this has never been proven. Mueller maintained, as he had said before, that he was only looking to live a peaceful and quiet life as a pious Muslim.

In late summer of 2011, he left Germany for Kenya, for yet unclear reasons. Since then, he has been on the security radar as a wanted man until he reportedly fled to Uganda about a fortnight ago on a bus. Another terror suspect being hunted by Ugandan security forces is Emrah Erdogan who uses the aliases Imraan AL-Kurdy and Salahaddin AL-Kurdy.
Besides hunting for the suspects, the police have deployed about 2,000 officers to guard Kampala’s tallest buildings amid renewed terror threats from Somali group al-Shabab.

mutaizibwa@observer.ug