Shock at Martial Arts Fan's Suicide Attack

Community leaders and friends were shocked to learn yesterday that a young martial arts enthusiast from Sheffield had blown himself up in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq.

A story in the Yemeni newspaper Al Ayyam claimed that Wail al Dhaleai, 22, a Muslim who fled from Yemen three years ago, had died in an assault on US troops.

Craig Wallis, who trained with Dhaleai in Sheffield's tae kwon do clubs, said: "It is very hard to believe."

"I was very surprised at the news - anyone would be," added Omer Abdulquder, chairman of Sheffield's Goodwill community centre, where Dhaleai taught martial arts to the Yemeni community. "He was a very jolly person, a very sociable person."

Another friend said the first he knew was when men he took to be special branch officers knocked on his door and asked him about Dhaleai.

Yesterday Bashraheel Bashraheel, foreign editor of Al Ayyam, said the story had been checked with Dhaleai's family in Yemen.

He said: "The family does not know the complete story but they understand he went to a martial arts competition in Amsterdam and from there to a country bordering Iraq."

Dhaleai came to Britain three years ago as a refugee and told friends he had had to leave Yemen after writing newspaper articles criticising the government.

A year later he married a British woman. The couple had a young son and were said to be expecting another.

Five weeks ago Dhaleai, who had been receiving social security benefits while taking a computer course, left Sheffield saying he was going to make a new start in the United Arab Emirates, where he had been offered a job as a security guard and martial arts trainer. He said he would earn £250 a week and be given a house for his family.

Andrew Hill, a tae kwon do master in Sheffield, said that Dhaleai gave no indication of involvement in extreme politics or fanatical action. "Everyone at the club got on with him _ He trained with the UK Olympic team and couldn't wait to get his British passport so that he could try for selection for Britain."

Mr Abdulquder said Dhaleai gave no sign that he might sacrifice his life for his beliefs. "When I heard the news, I tried to contact his home number. But it just rings and no one picks it up. I do not know where Wail's wife is now."

A South Yorkshire police spokeswoman said yesterday: "We know of Mr Dhaleai and are making inquiries."