Syrians with fake passports arrested en route to Malta ‘were fleeing IS’

Two Syrian men who were arrested at an Italian airport as they tried to fly to Malta with fake passports have denied any links to terror groups, indeed claiming to have fled from Islamic State.

Alali Faowaz, 30, and Hazem Alhamed, 19, were arrested with fake passports at Bergamo airport last week, and pictures of armed man on their mobile phones led to fears that they had links with IS.

However, Faowaz told an Italian court that the man on his phone was his cousin who had been killed in battle, Corriere della Sera reported.

He told the court that he had moved from Greece to Raqqa before IS sprung to power and declared the Syrian city the capital of their self-proclaimed state.

“After that, people had to either work for IS or not work at all, and I was assigned to work as a policeman,” he said.

However, he was accused of corruption after “turning a blind eye in return for cash”, and sentenced to a fine and 100 lashes.

Fearing for his life, Faowaz fled Syria, leaving his pregnant wife and son behind.

19-year-old Hazem Alhamed said that he had fled a Syrian village before IS could invade it. Living in Saudi Arabia for two years, he travelled upwards through Turkey and the Balkans. He said that he had wanted to travel to Malta to find work and re-unite with his brother, who had been living on the island for years.

The two have been remanded in custody. 

Following this and similar incidents, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat warned that the government had uncovered a “racket” of migrant smuggling and promptly reintroduced border controls until the end of the year.