A London mosque has distanced itself from one of its former worshippers after she vowed to become the first female jihadi to kill a western prisoner in Syria.
Khadijah Dare, from Lewisham in south-east London, said she wanted to carry out a copycat killing following the brutal murder of American journalist James Foley.
The 22-year-old Londoner, who moved to Syria in 2012 with her Swedish husband and Islamic State fighter Abu Bakr, took to Twitter to praise the killing. She wrote: "Any links 4 da execution of da journalist plz. Allahu Akbar. UK must b shaking up ha ha. I wna b da 1st UK woman 2 kill a UK or US terorrist!"
Dare, who previously posted a picture of her toddler son posing with an AK47 rifle, is thought to have been a regular at the Lewisham Islamic Centre, which was allegedly linked to Michael Adebolajo, the killer of fusilier Lee Rigby.
On Friday a spokesman for the centre said that, had Dare sought advice before travelling to Syria, it would have dissuaded her from "taking the particular action that she did despite us fully understanding why young men and women may be motivated to travel to Syria because of the tragic human suffering taking place there".
The centre said in a statement: "It is rather unfortunate that time and time again, the media do not seem to understand that whether or not any individual who has ever prayed in the mosque has gone on to be involved in acts that are considered to be illegal, that this should in no way reflect on the mosque or on the message the mosque imparts.
"In this instance, the young woman's desire to travel to Syria has nothing to do with the Centre and/or any one of its staff. Unfortunately, the Muslim community are being subjected to a burden of proof based on a 'guilty by association' standard."
In a later statement, the mosque said it was outraged at being asked to condemn the tweet, describing enquiries as "loaded with an islamophobic assumption that Muslims by default condone such brutality".
A community leader in Lewisham, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the situation, said there were concerns that some of the mosque's previously loyal worshippers felt alienated by a group of British-Somali radicals said to have recently started attending the mosque.
Scotland Yard said: "Police in Lewisham have been working closely with the Lewisham Islamic centre for a number of years. We maintain regular contact with its leaders who update us on any concerns they may have about crime or antisocial behaviour.
"We have no knowledge of any complaints, concerns or allegations of crime regarding the running of Lewisham Islamic Centre."