Reda Seyam (born 1959 or 1960), also known as Ghana Prakesh or Gnanavel (the one with two horns), was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Islamic militant and an official in the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

(IS). He has been described as a 'veteran of jihad' and is the highest ranking German member of the Islamic State.

Background

Reda Seyam was born in 1959 or 1960 in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He joined the

Bosnian mujahideen Bosnian mujahideen (), also called ''El Mudžahid'' (, ''mujāhid''), were foreign Muslim volunteers who fought on the Bosniaks, Bosnian Muslim side during the Bosnian War (1992–95). They first arrived in central Bosnia in the latter half of 19 ...

in 1994, fighting in the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

(1992–95). He later moved to

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in 1998. Seyam is suspected of playing a role in financing the

2002 Bali bombings The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...

. He was arrested in Indonesia and interrogated by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

at a black site before being extradited to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 2003, where he became an influential figure in the

Salafi movement The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

Islamic State

On August 19, 2013, it was reported that Seyam was active in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Presently he is said to be the "emir for education" in

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, where he is responsible for "education reform" in the region. He has appeared in a video titled "Education in the Shade of the Caliphate" and in pictures taken inside Mosul University. According to a study by Jean-Charles Brisard and Kevin Jacksom, he was at one point deputy to the Islamic State governor in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

province in

Family

Seyam first married in 1988. His first wife left him and was placed in witness protection by the German government. He later remarried. Seyam has a son named Jihad. The Berlin Interior Minister,

Ehrhart Körting Ehrhart is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Eugène Ehrhart (1906–2000), French mathematician who introduced Ehrhart polynomials in the 1960s * Gustav Ehrhart (1894–1971), German chemist who synthesized the first fully synth ...

made a complaint against him naming his son Jihad but on September 2, 2009 the Court of Appeal ruled that this was a common name in the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

and was, therefore, permissible.{{cite web, url=https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=de&u=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303173300/http://www.daserste.de/doku/beitrag_dyn~uid,6vse5xraghyd8gnv~cm.asp&usg=ALkJrhgkCcvQvrM9X721ZIHlsERjLFf0aQ , title=Google Translate , website=Translate.googleusercontent.com , date=2007-03-03 , accessdate=2016-07-27

References

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from Egypt Egyptian emigrants to Germany Egyptian Muslims Bosnian mujahideen