Norwegian spies tried to stop mall massacre gunman from travelling to Somalia THREE YEARS ago after discovering his jihadi beliefs

Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow is believed to be one of the Westgate gunmen

He is a Somalian but grew up in Norway, as his family moved there in 1999

Now Norwegian intelligence services he was 'well-known' to them

Marie Benedicte Bjoernland said the PST agency tried to stop him leaving for a life of terror in Somalia in 2010, but failed



Norwegian agents tried to stop a suspected Nairobi mall gunman from leaving the country for a life of terror three years ago.



Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, a 23-year-old Somalian whom Kenyan authorities believe was one of the terrorists in the Westgate mall seige, was 'well-known' to the PST domestic intelligence service, its chief said yesterday.

PST agents tried several times to persuade him to abandon plans to move to Somalia in 2010 - and join jihadist group al-Shabaab - but failed to stop the young man.



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Atrocity: This CCTV image shows a man suspected to be Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow taking aim in a shop inside Nairobi's Westgate mall

The Kenyan government has said that Dhuhulow is one of the men who can be seen in CCTV footage pointing a rifle at cowering victims in the attack last month.

On Sunday it announced that it had recovered the remains of four of the gunmen, who were filmed coldly gunning down fleeing shoppers in the upscale mall.



Though PST have not yet confirmed that he was one of the attackers , Marie Benedicte Bjoernland, the head of the agency, revealed the dealings with Dhuhulow, who spent his youth in Norway after his family moved there in 1999.



She said: 'We had several talks with him... before he left Norway more than three years ago. Obviously we didn't succeed, but there was quite an effort put into the preventive side of this.'

Ms Bjoernland did not give any greater detail on the conversations, and admitted that he 'most likely' was killed in the seige.

On Sunday the Kenyan government said it believes it has recovered the remains of four gunmen caught carrying out the attack in CCTV footage.



Youth: This photo shows Dhuhulow in Larvik, Norway, in 2007 wearing a Chelsea football shirt

The Somali extremist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in retribution for Kenya's military involvement in Somalia.



Dhuhulow's sister confirmed last week that her brother went to the Somali capital of Mogadishu for a three-month visit in 2009, then moved to Somalia permanently in March 2010.

But she said she didn't believe he was among the gunmen seen in the footage.



Just days after Dhuhulow's identity became known, Norwegian police issued international alerts for two Norwegian-Somali sisters, aged 16 and 19, who told their family they were traveling to Syria to join the civil war. They were last spotted on the Turkish-Syrian border.



'We see a growing problem when it comes to people traveling to war zones, and specifically in the last year we've seen a growing number of persons traveling to Syria,' Ms Bjoernland said.



She estimated that between 30 and 40 people have left Norway to join the Syrian civil war, but said the number is uncertain and could be even larger.



That conflict has attracted hundreds of foreign fighters from European countries, including many members of Islamic militant groups.

Many intelligence services are worried at the damage these fighters could do when they return home with combat experience and terrorist training - and possibly combat trauma.



Ms Bjoerland said: 'When they are radicalised and when they are determined to go, for instance to Syria or other conflict areas, we don't have many legal measures to stop them'.

It is now illegal in Norway to receive training from terror groups - but police and intelligence services struggle to prove whether would-be militants are leaving the country for legitimate reasons - or to join jihadist groups.

Brainwashed: According to one of his relatives who watched CCTV footage of shooting he may 'have been brainwashed'

Ms Bjoerland said her agency tries to engage with potential terrorists and dissuade them from leaving, but that it often doesn't work.

She said: 'We do preventive work. We talk to them. We try to persuade them not to go, because it's a dangerous journey.

'I wish we were more successful. We have succeeded in turning some around from traveling. But quite a few have actually left.'

