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Ex-rapper, Accused of Heading Militant Cell, is Found Dead in Spanish Prison

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary was found dead in a Spanish prison Wednesday. File photo
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary was found dead in a Spanish prison Wednesday. File photo
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Ex-rapper, Accused of Heading Militant Cell, is Found Dead in Spanish Prison

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary was found dead in a Spanish prison Wednesday. File photo
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary was found dead in a Spanish prison Wednesday. File photo

A former British rap artist and militant has died in custody in Spain, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary was found dead in a Spanish prison Wednesday, the ministry said. The cause of death is yet to be confirmed.

Abdel Bary was arrested in 2020, accused of heading a militant terror cell. He was facing up to 9 years in prison. A trial was set for sentencing July 14 and he was awaiting verdict.

Abdel Bary, 32, left London in 2013 to join an Al Qaeda faction and later ISIS militias in Syria. He made a name for himself on social media sites by showing himself clutching the severed head of one of his alleged victims.

Before joining the group, Abdel Bary performed as rapper lyricist under the name Jinn.

He was the son of an Egyptian operative of al-Qaeda who was convicted for events related to the 1998 bombings at US embassies in Africa that killed 224 people. Abdel Bary stopped making music not long after his father’s extradition to the US on terror charges.

Spanish police arrested Abdel Bary and two other men in April 2020, shortly after they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar on a skiff from Algeria.

He was accused of leading a militant terror cell formed by him and the two other men, dedicated to committing internet banking scams and trafficking in cryptocurrencies to “finance their terrorist activities.”

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Quad FMs Discuss Bolstering Maritime, Cyber Defenses

(L to R) India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chat at the end of their press conference following the Quad Ministerial Meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
(L to R) India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chat at the end of their press conference following the Quad Ministerial Meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
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Quad FMs Discuss Bolstering Maritime, Cyber Defenses

(L to R) India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chat at the end of their press conference following the Quad Ministerial Meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
(L to R) India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chat at the end of their press conference following the Quad Ministerial Meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan and the United States - a grouping known as the 'Quad' - discussed initiatives to bolster maritime security and build up cyber defenses in talks in Tokyo on Monday.

The talks attended by Australia's Penny Wong, India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japan's Yoko Kamikawa and Antony Blinken from the US, follow security discussions between Tokyo and Washington on Sunday where the allies labelled China the "greatest strategic challenge" facing the region, Reuters reported.
"We are charting a course for a more secure and open Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean region by bolstering maritime security and domain awareness," Blinken said in remarks to the press after the meeting.

"It means strengthening the capacity of partners across the region to know what's happening in their own waters," he added.

He said the US would continue to work with its allies to ensure freedom of navigation and the unimpeded flow of lawful maritime commerce.

The US announced plans on Sunday for a major revamp of its military command in Japan to deepen coordination with its ally's forces.

It was among several measures taken to address what the US and Japan said was an "evolving security environment,” noting various threats from China including its increasingly muscular maritime activities in the East and South China Seas.

"Uncertainty surrounding the international order as well as the international situation has been increasing with Russia continuing its aggression in Ukraine, attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and the launch of ballistic missiles by North Korea," Japan's Kamikawa said after the talks.

She highlighted the need to build up cybersecurity capability and provide training opportunities in maritime security to protect and develop prosperity in Indo-Pacific.

After leaving Tokyo, Blinken and Austin will hold security talks with another Asian ally, the Philippines, as the Biden administration seeks to counter an increasingly bold China.

Blinken met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Laos on Saturday and repeated that Washington and its partners want to maintain a "free and open Indo-Pacific," according to a US readout of the meeting.