Den svenske terroristen och jihadkrigaren Michael Skråmo - Vad vet vi om honom?

I flera veckor försökte Michael Skråmos anhöriga i Sverige övertala honom att överlämna sina sju barn till de syriska demokratiska styrkorna SDF, men han vägrade. Varje gång hans svärmor fick kontakt med honom på kommunikationsappen Telegram sa han att ”mitt befäl har inte gett order om det än”.

The recruiter, a soft-spoken Swede who called herself “Umm Hamza,” was clever, wily and experienced. She sounded out Sara gradually, asked why she converted to Islam, why she wanted to come to Syria, and what nationality husband she was seeking.

Sara opted for a European, and the stakes escalated suddenly when Umm Hamza offered her own son-in-law, Michael Skramo, a blond, blue-eyed Swede, as a prospective mate.

Skramo is one of two most-wanted terrorist suspects in Sweden. A convert to Islam who studied as a chef and was once a vocal opponent of Islamophobia, he had become a dedicated jihadist who sent out bloodthirsty recruitment videos calling for the killing of non-believers, and fought on the front lines in Syria.

He had five children with his wife, Amanda, but, Umm Hamza told Sara, “she was OK” with the second marriage.

As negotiations deepened, Himel and his team had to keep one step ahead of Daesh’s cybersecurity, using dummy phones connected with Sweden and Australia, and obeying instructions to use encrypted sites and Wi-Fi linked mobiles without traceable SIM cards.

A departure date was set, and Sara was put in touch with Skramo, who used the nom-de-guerre Abdul Samad al Swedi.

He told her how to evade detection after arriving in Turkey, and she received a map showing a “simple route” to Raqqa from the border. Meanwhile, Umm Hamza offered motherly advice and encouragement to the prospective bride, assuring her life in the “caliphate” would be wonderful.

“Sara went into this to con Umm Hamza,” Himel said. “But she was emotionally affected by her. She wasn’t a professional spy and even though she knew the woman was a terrorist, and luring young women to marry jihadists, she was upset. That’s how recruiters work, through the emotions.”

The film might have ended there. But when the Documentary Channel extended financing, Himel went to Sweden for more background on Skramo and his family. Through contacts with terrorism experts and police, he received startling information. Umm Hamza — in reality Ulrike Pape — had returned to Gothenburg.

“It wasn’t difficult to trace where she was,” Himel said. “But I wasn’t expecting her to talk to me. I just wanted to get her voice, then the film would be locked.”

To his amazement, she let him in, along with his contact, who told her he was a journalist. Veiled, but seemingly relaxed, she admitted escaping from the caliphate with her two preteen children after allied bombing intensified. Her eldest, Amanda, remained in Raqqa.

“I was filming with a hidden camera,” Himel said. “I couldn’t see what I was shooting, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity. She had parrots everywhere in the apartment, in cages, as she did in Raqqa. It was like living confirmation of my story — like a movie someone was playing for me.”

The film is finished, but the plot is still in play.

In Sweden, Pape is free, but under surveillance, and Skramo — who can’t return for fear of arrest — is in increasing danger from bombing, along with his family. Daesh’s once-touted caliphate is under attack and shrinking in both Syria and Iraq.