An Islamist extremist working at one of London’s most famous hospitals has been suspended after being accused of issuing a fatwa-style death threat for blasphemy.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that NHS employee Omar Abdallah Mansuur, 39 – an influential imam – faces claims that he decreed a fellow Muslim should get the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Mohammed.
His broadcast was made to tens of thousands of followers and is thought to be the first time a cleric in Britain has made such a threat.
The terrified victim, now in hiding in Europe, has been warned by police that it is too dangerous for him to visit the UK. ‘It is a living nightmare,’ he said last night. ‘My life is at risk and I am constantly looking over my shoulder.’
But last night, Mansuur denied issuing a death threat, saying he merely stated the Islamic punishment for blasphemy.
In some of his inflammatory diatribes, Mansuur appears on video from inside St Thomas’ Hospital – directly across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament – where he works in procurement.
One sequence shows him going into the hospital via an underground entrance and walking along a corridor before sitting down in an office.
Staff describe bespectacled Mansuur, a British national of Somali origin who lives in North London with his wife and children, as unassuming and polite. But his social media profiles tell a different story.
Using TikTok, Facebook and X, he reaches millions of followers with his hate-filled videos and live broadcasts.
On Friday, after the MoS passed on its evidence, the hospital said Mansuur had been suspended pending an investigation.
Yair Cohen, a lawyer representing the victim, said: ‘I am calling for immediate and decisive action to protect my client.
‘Police forces seem able to swiftly arrest people for far less serious social media activity.’
The National Secular Society said: ‘It’s appalling that here in the UK, Islamists are calling for the death of supposed blasphemers or those who leave Islam. The police and counter-extremism authorities must take this threat seriously, and people who incite murder against those who they see as offending their religion must face justice.’
In one broadcast, Mansuur says of the 32-year-old moderate imam, whom he accuses of making offensive remarks about the Prophet: ‘When he repents, he will be put to death in the manner Muslims are killed. If he refuses to repent he will be caught, killed, then thrown in a hole like a dog.’
The death threat victim vehemently denies insulting Islam and insists comments he made on social media were doctored. The Metropolitan Police said it had referred his complaint to police in the country in which he is hiding.
The target of the ‘fatwa’ told the Met in a statement that he fears he will suffer the same fate as French teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded near his school in Paris in 2020 after hate campaigners accused him of showing a cartoon of the Prophet to students.
Hellbound and Down 