There is no mention here of his gun being taken!
The facebook page taken down was the first Islamic State Watch page. The new one can be found here: www.facebook.com/IslamicStateWatchNZ
Wiremu Curtis, who changed his name to Harun Abdul-Majeed SaifuAllah, had his passport taken from him.
A south Auckland man who has posted photos of himself posing with the Islamic State flag and a gun has been criticised by the New Zealand Muslim Association.
On his Facebook page Harun Abdul-Majeed SaifuAllah says he hopes Islam will one day dominate the world.
His Facebook page is dominated by quotes from the Quran, and discussions he has with friends, telling them, “Allah will always make the believers triumph”.
SUPPLIED A letter from Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne to William Ringo Ratapu Howard, (aka Wiremu Curtis or Haroon Curtis) advises his NZ passport is being recalled and cancelled, on the grounds that he intends to engage in, or facilitate, terrorism.
He has reportedly said he supports the views of ISIS “100 per cent”.
The page has since been taken down.
Islamic State has had a stronghold on parts of the Middle East, including Iraq and Syria, for several years and has taken responsibility for acts of terror there.
New Zealand troops are in Iraq training Iraqi soldiers to fight ISIS.
The 23-year-old Manukau man reportedly changed his name from William Ringo Ratapu-Howard, but also goes by the name of Wiremu Curtis.
He converted to Islam two years ago and was stopped at Auckland Airport in May 2014 as he tried to board a flight to Qatar.
At the time he claimed he had been invited to the country by its government and denied any wrong doing, claiming he was targeted because he was “young and Muslim”.
Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne cancelled his passport based on information provided by the SIS, saying he believed on “reasonable grounds” that Curtis was a threat to national security because of “regular contact with overseas and New Zealand-based individuals supporting terrorism, you have booked imminent travel to countries of security concern and you intend to engage in or facilitate an act of terrorism overseas.”
New Zealand Muslim Association president Ikhlaq Kashkari said SaifuAllah was using “our religion name” for untoward purposes.
Kashkari had been having discussions with the Auckland Muslim community and nobody had met SaifuAllah or recognised him, he said.
“We’re as concerned as anybody would be, if not more. We’re a peaceful country and we’d like to keep it like that,” he said.
“We are New Zealanders, so in terms of security, we are all concerned, and more so being Muslims. Is he genuine or not? I doubt it. A lot of these people are attention seekers and media sensationalises it,” he said.
“These people, I don’t know if they fully comprehend what statements like this do. Nine out of 10 times they’re not genuine and all they do is create panic.”
The association supported the government whenever a purported extremist came to their attention, but it was up to the government and police to do something about it, he said.
“The government knows who these people are, and they need to be hard on that…and take appropriate action.”
It’s not the first time a Kiwi has pledged allegiance to the terror group.
It was revealed last year the government had a “watch list” of nationals who were classed as ‘people of concern’.
That list comprised between 30 to 40 people, including some who had travelled to Syria to fight, Prime Minister John Key told the National Institution of International Relations.
“Government agencies have a watch list of between 30 and 40 people of concern in the foreign fighter context. These are people in, or from New Zealand who are in various ways participating in extremist behaviour,” Key said at the time.
Key’s office referred questions about SaifuAllah to the office of Chris Finlayson, the Minister in charge of New Zealand intelligence services.
A spokeswoman for Finlayson said the Minister wouldn’t comment on operational matters.
Police issued a statement saying it wouldn’t comment.
“Police and other agencies are aware of and have an interest in the activities of people who might hold or express views that could be of security concern, and will take appropriate action where required. We do not comment on individual cases,” a spokesperson said.
Muslim Association concerned with Auckland man’s ISIS support claims
