The motive for the hostage-taking in a synagogue in Texas is still being investigated by the security authorities.

President Joe Biden nonetheless, based on the information presented to him Sunday, said, "That was an act of terrorism." And he hinted that the act was related "to someone who was arrested 15 years ago and has been for 10 years years in prison," he said during a visit to Philadelphia.

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

  • Follow I follow

The hostage-taker had demanded to see Pakistani woman Aafia Siddiqui.

The neurologist, who according to the FBI is said to have been connected to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, was arrested in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 2008 and sentenced in 2010 by a federal judge in Manhattan to 86 years in prison for attempted murder, among other things.

During interrogation at a police station in Afghanistan, she took a gun lying on the ground and aimed it at an American soldier, an FBI officer and a translator, without hitting them.

The woman had studied at a university in the USA.

Her name was later added to a list of al-Qaeda suspects by American authorities.

She is being held at the Federal Medical Center, a facility in Fort Worth.

Loud explosion and shots

The police had ended the eleven-hour hostage-taking in the synagogue of the Congregation Beth Israel in the small town of Colleyville near Fort Worth on Saturday evening and freed the three remaining hostages, including the rabbi. Another hostage had been released earlier. The armed perpetrator died. It was initially unclear whether he was killed by the emergency services or committed suicide. Up to 200 security forces from different units were deployed at the crime scene. When they stormed the synagogue, there was a loud explosion and gunfire.

Federal police identified the kidnapper as a 44-year-old British citizen named Malik Faisal Akram. The FBI in Dallas announced that there is currently no evidence of other people involved in the crime. According to the security authorities, he is said to have said that he and Aafia Siddiqui would go to heaven together after seeing her. In a live broadcast of the Shabbat service, which was streamed to Facebook, the alleged perpetrator's voice was briefly heard, demanding to call his "sister." Their lawyer said their client had "absolutely nothing" to do with the hostage-taking.

Akram entered the United States via New York shortly before the New Year. He had stated that he wanted to move into a hotel in the New York borough of Queens. US security officials said Akram entered the country legally. There was nothing against him. The FBI said Akram's only focus during the kidnapping was to see Aafia Siddiqui.

In London, Secretary of State Liz Truss condemned the "terrorist and anti-Semitic" act. British police have confirmed the identity of the suspect, who is from Blackburn. The kidnapper's alleged brother spoke out on the Facebook page of the city's Muslim community in north-west England. The man wrote that his family condemned the act. His brother, who was shot dead during the police operation, suffered from mental health problems.

Meanwhile, British police arrested two youths in connection with the kidnapping. The teenagers were arrested on Sunday evening in the south of the city of Manchester in northern England, said the anti-terrorist police. "You remain in custody for questioning," Manchester Region Police said.

The British government promised the United States its support in the investigation.

"We stand with America and defend the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hatred," Secretary Truss wrote on Twitter.

President Biden pledged to act "against anti-Semitism and the rising extremism in this country."

You will not tolerate that.