Polite and caring sons who turned to terror

They were model sons, according to friends and family, who turned into men capable of inflicting murder and carnage. Yesterday, as the wounded from the Tel Aviv bar attack recovered in hospital, families in Derby and west London were coming to terms with their loved one's journey from anonymity to notoriety.

Asif Mohammed Hanif, who died in the attack, was born in India and was the second youngest of four brothers. His brother Taz said: "He was just a big teddy bear, that's what people said about him."

Gentle and polite were the descriptions of neighbours about the 21-year-old reported to have killed himself and others in the name of Islamic extremism. He was the sort of person who would offer you a lift, said one.

Mohammad Hashmi, 53, who lives opposite the family and was the cleric at Hounslow's main mosque for 12 years until 1994, said: "As I know him, he was honourable and very polite and I never heard about any kind of politics from him."

Mr Hanif, who attended Cranford community college, Hounslow, for eight years, from 1992 to 2000, had taken business studies and performed well, his former headteacher said.

He had a growing interest in Islam, but it was strictly peaceful, said his friend Asif, as he visited the Hounslow mosque where Mr Hanif was well known. "Our name for him was huggy bear", he said.

Far from advocating violence in the pursuit of Islamic causes, he was opposed to it, the friend said: "This is why we're all pulling our hair out, this is totally out of character. He hated movements like al-Muhajiroun and Hizb-ut-Tahrir."

The friends, as others who knew Mr Hanif, rubbished a report claiming he had handed out political leaflets, saying he had laughed at those leafleting the mosque with hardline propaganda. On the mosque's noticeboard is evidence of a battle being fought by those who run it. Notices say the extreme group Hizb-ut-Tahrir is banned, and anyone wanting to address the faithful must have prior permission.

The friend last spoke to Mr Hanif three weeks when Mr Hanif called from Syria, and asked if he wanted anything from Damascus.

The friend said Mr Hanif had travelled to Morocco in search of a greater understanding of his faith, before going to study in Damascus. As well as learning Arabic, he wanted to study fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence, as part of his attempt to be a hafiz, a protector of the Islamic faith.

Two police officers visited the modest family home yesterday. The family stayed out of sight, but a friend who emerged summed up the mood: "This does not add up, knowing the person he was. I still believe he is alive."

Entrepreneur

Omar Khan Sharif's family also went to ground yesterday. His father, Mohammed Sharif, was an entrepreneur who opened the first kebab shop in the East Midlands town and also owned a laundrette and amusement arcades.

A neighbour recalled Mr Sharif as a polite child who would cross the road to open the gate for her when she drove home from work. Both of the would-be suicide bombers' parents have passed away.

Mr Sharif's father educated all his children privately, sending his youngest to Foremark Hall, the £12,000-a-year prep school for Derby public school Repton. Mr Sharif went to Foremark Hall for two years, but did not go on to Repton, instead studying at another local school.

In autumn 2001 Mr Sharif began an undergraduate degree in multimedia information systems at Kingston University, London, but dropped out after a few months. He returned home with a bride who is believed to come from a Middle Eastern country. Some noticed a change.

When he returned to Derby, where he bought a terraced house around the corner from his parents' home and worked in a call centre, he wore Islamic dress and grew a short beard.

A family friend and neighbour, Hamida Akhtar, said: "I asked him, 'why have you changed? Why are you dressed like that?' He didn't give an answer, he just started laughing.

"I was surprised. I didn't understand why he had changed, because his whole family were all westernised. The sisters all wore tights and skirts."

Mr Sharif and his wife had two daughters, believed to be aged seven and three.

Two Islamist groups, Al-Muhajiroun and Hizb-ut-Tahrir, are active in Derby, attempting to recruit worshippers outside mosques. Both have been criticised for being publicity seekers whose desire for the spotlight damages the standing of British Muslims.

Al-Muhajiroun is led by Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad. Although both groups denied knowledge of Mr Sharif, Sheikh Omar Bakri said: "Muslims cannot condemn the actions of a freedom fighter who is fighting to liberate his homeland from its occupiers."

The vast majority of British Muslim opinion condemned the bombings. Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "This act that took place yesterday, if it is confirmed that they happen to be British Muslims, it's an alarming development. This is the first time we are seeing British Muslims involved in acts of such ghastly nature.

"There are fringe elements ... but let us be absolutely clear, that as far as the Islamic position where such acts are concerned, a loss of any innocent life is a loss of humanity."

In Israel, security forces were facing up to dealing with a new terrorist tactic. The attack marked the first time in 31 months of fighting and 89 suicide attacks that a foreign national carried out a bombing.

It is believed both Mr Hanif and Mr Sharif set out from the fenced-in, heavily guarded Gaza Strip. All other suicide bombers have been Palestinians from the West Bank. Both were able to pass from the Gaza Strip to Israel because they carried British passports.

The chairman of the Hounslow mosque, Suleman Chachia, posed a question being asked in London, Derby and Tel Aviv. Declaring the attack un-Islamic, he said: "It makes you wonder why a 21-year-old man living in the western world who has got everything to live for goes out to another country and does this kind of thing."