The Bondi beach suspects had a secret meeting with Muslim religious leaders during their mysterious 28 day trip to the Philippines, a month prior to the horrific attack, sources have revealed to The Daily Mail.
In the aftermath of the Hanukkah attack, security experts claimed that Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed Akram, 24, had travelled to the south-east Asian country to receive military-style training from Islamist extremists.
Their presence on the island of Mindanao – the most notorious area in all of Southeast Asia for Islamic extremists – has inevitably caused speculation that they were there to meet others sympathetic to such a cause.
It is here where Islamic State took control of the city of Marawi in 2017. Thousands were dragged into a street-by-street war. Buildings burned until their steel frames twisted, foreign jihadis slipped in through the jungle to join the slaughter and more than 1,200 people died.
The government in the Philippines – which has spent years trying to reduce the presence of IS militants in the country – has vehemently denied this, even passing the trip off as a father-son ‘bonding’ holiday.
Investigators in the Philippines are still trying to piece together the pair’s detailed movements and contacts there – but the Daily Mail has established that they met at a number of Islamic leaders during the trip.
And we have learned that the pair repeatedly extended their stay from an initial single week to eventually 28 days – which experts believe increases the probability that they were there to meet extremists and possibly even for training.
Mindanao, an island province in the south of the country, is renowned as a safe haven where militants can evade attention from the authorities with relative ease.
+26
View gallery
This is the first clear photo of Bondi Beach terrorist Sajid Akram – the 50-year-old who carried out the atrocity in Sydney in a gun attack on the first day of Hanukkah, killing 15 people
+26
View gallery
Naveed Akram was also allegedly caught on camera as he passed through Philippines immigration
+26
View gallery
Sajid 50-year-old father, pictured, from Sydney’s west, was shot dead at the scene by police
+26
View gallery
Photos have also emerged of the father and son’s passports
+26
View gallery
The father and son accused of carrying out the Bondi Beach massacre spent a month staying in this shabby £11-a-night one-star hotel in a red-light district in the Philippines
+26
View gallery
The two men stayed in the GV Hotel in Davao in a small twin bed room where they would rarely leave for more than a few hours a day
+26
View gallery
A cleaner makes the bed in the now infamous room 315 in the GV Hotel in Davao where the Akrams stayed for 27 nights
The father and son flew from Sydney into the Filipino capital, Manila, on November 1 from before catching an internal flight to Mindanao.
They then based themselves in the island’s largest city, Davao, which, according to experts, has long been such a draw for foreign radicals that it has been described as ‘a terror academy’ where atrocities are believed to have been plotted in the past.
The pair ended up checking into the one-star GV Hotel staying in room 315 – a bare room with two clinical-looking single beds.
Staff at the shabby £11-a-night hotel have told how the pair kept a low profile, not engaging with staff or other guests and spending most of their time together in that shared small room.
The Akrams, who are accused of murdering 15 people during the attack targeting Jewish Hanukkah celebrants last Sunday, had no visitors at any point in their stay, according to staff.
Soon a routine emerged: the pair would leave the room to go out jogging together each morning and then to buy take out food from any of the various fast food joints that proliferate around the hotel, taking it back to eat in the tiny twin bed room.
The son, Naveed, was seen sometimes playing video games in a computer store – with CCTV footage showing him strolling back from the shop, just a minute walk from his hotel.
His father was said to have visited one of the several local firearms stores in the city, according to local Davao police director Leon Victor Rosete
He said: ‘The father has shown interest in firearms. He entered a firearms shop.’
Otherwise they stayed in their room.
Authorities in the Philippines who are investigating their stay in collaboration with their Australian counterparts are understood to have discovered that the longest they were ever away from the hotel at a time was on a single occasion when they left for eight hours.
The Mail has now established that the pair are believed to have travelled to the nearby coastal city of Panabo, which is some 20 miles north, about an hour’s drive north from Davao, on the occasion of their longest absence.
A source close to the investigation told us: ‘It is now thought that the father and son went out of Davao City to the nearest border in Panabo to meet some Muslim religious leaders.
‘This raises more questions on what they were doing in Mindanao.’
The identities and affiliations of the ‘religious leaders’ they met that day remain unclear.
But their behaviour is believed to be consistent with an established paradigm in which foreign extremists, often from neighbouring Indonesia, have travelled to the Philippines for meetings with so-called IS freedom fighters or their supporters.
+26
View gallery
The suspected Bondi beach terror attacker is alleged to have conducted firearms training at a location thought to be in New South Wales
+26
View gallery
A screenshot from a video found on Naveed Akram’s phone shows his father conducting firearms training, police allege
+26
View gallery
The suspected gunmen seen with three firearms on the day of the Bondi Beach shooting
+26
View gallery
A homemade Islamic State flag was also found in the car, police allege
+26
View gallery
Police allege a homemade bomb was found in the boot of the Akrams’ vehicle
The revelation comes as the Australian Fedral Police refused to comment on whether there was an active investigation into two other men from Sydney were in the Philippines the same time as the Akrams.
The four men are believed to have all been in Davao at the same time.
But sources who met Naveed and Sajid while they were staying in the city have also confirmed they were joined by two mysterious companions.
The woman said that Naveed had told her he was travelling with not one but three companions – which raises further questions about who they were meeting in the city and for what purpose.
Among foreign militants who have previously sought sanctuary in Mindanao was Umar Patek, the Indonesian radical who made the explosives used in the 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali which killed 202 people including 88 Australians.
Waiting for an arranged meeting could also inform why the duo repeatedly prolonged their trip beyond the initial booked seven days.
Sidney Jones, of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said that in such situations it is not uncommon for radicals arriving from overseas to be told by their contact in Mindanao to go to a hotel, to check in and then simply wait for a message about a meeting.
She said: ‘They may have thought they were going to receive training but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen [in the first week of their stay]
‘They may have received misleading information via social media about the state of ISIS in the Philippines, or they may have arranged a contact who never showed up because of ongoing military operations.
‘My best guess was that they were told by a contact to go to that hotel and wait for a message, but that message never came.’
An ongoing military operation against Islamic extremists in the Philippines was active throughout November and early December.
What has been described as ‘stepped-up military operation’ against the IS-sympathising local cell named the Dawlah Islamiyah-Hassan group saw an Amir or leader of that cell killed in a security operation in the North-western village of Satan on December 7 – exactly a week before the Bondi attacks.
This attempted crackdown on Dawlah Islamiyah-Hassan could explain why any meeting was delayed – and in turn why the Akrams extended their stay after initially only checked into the hotel for seven days, paying in cash
The men went on to extend the trip a week at a time on three separate occasions, which again might suggest that they were waiting for a meeting which was being put back.
Detectives in Davao – and Sydney alike – are still probing any connections the pair may have had with extremists groups, and are trying to gather the full picture of what Akrams did whilst in the Philippines.
+26
View gallery
Sources on the ground in Davao (pictured) told the Daily Mail that the men had been accompanied by two other mysterious companions
+26
View gallery
Young charity workers volunteering in Manila told the Daily Mail extremists are still living in their hometown of Marawi
+26
View gallery
The suspects based themselves on the island of Mindanao – the most notorious area in all of Southeast Asiafor Islamic extremists. The Abu Sayyaf group (pictured) exist there known for kidnappings, bombings, assassinations and extortions
+26
View gallery
In Davao, where the Akrams were staying, there were multiple firearm stores, which the father is said to have visited, as well as shooting ranges
+26
View gallery
Gun shops are not uncommon in the Philippines. Pictured: A firearm shop in Manila
+26
View gallery
Jamil Amptaua, 24, who is from Marawi said that ISIS extremists still live in the city and try to recruit impressionable young men
All CCTV footage from shops, restaurants and public cameras surrounding their hotel has been confiscated for inspection by police in Davao.
The men’s credit card payments are also being used to track their movements in the country.
Meanwhile, a poster showing the two men’s faces has been handed out to all 70 mosques in the area asking anyone who saw them ‘is urged to immediately call the hotline’.
In recent years the Philippines had fallen out of the top 10 of the Global Index for Terrorism (now sitting at number 20) but many say this masks ongoing problems particularly in regions of Mindanao.
Dr Rommel Banaloi, who is the director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said: ‘There are still many active training camps in Mindanao. Those did not disappear’.
He said that even weakened remnants of former terrorist groups still maintain local and online connections, with ‘active ISIS-affiliated training camps continuing to exist in Mindanao’.
The leading security analyst explained: ‘It is apparent they did not visit the Philippines just for a vacation. Spending 28 days here really makes their visit suspicious.
‘For me the presence of the father and son in the Philippines prior to the Bondi attack really presents a serious concern for the Philippines because now we are back on the radar, being associated with terrorist threats around the world.
Ali Darangina, from a mosque in Manila called the suspects freedom fighters, not terrorists
‘We thought terrorism was all but over but now it is not over. And there are now concerns that the Bondi attackers might inspire local militants to follow through.
‘That’s the challenge now for Philippines law enforcement to stop these types of attacks occurring, particularly in areas populated by Jewish people.
‘What we saw in Bondi is a new wave of terror where they have specific targets and those targets are the Jewish community. The new face of terrorism has a new antisemitic agenda.’
Following the attacks at Bondi – which also left 42 injured – two ISIS-styled flags, as well as explosives, were found in Naveed’s car.
Days later the terror group took credit for the Sydney attack, writing on Telegram that the massacre was a source of ‘pride’ before describing the Akrams as ‘lions’ and ‘heroes’.
This week Naveed – who survived events in Bondi – was charged with 59 offences including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.
His father was killed in the police shootout.
The government in the Philippines however has continued to deny any suggestion that the men came to the country for ‘military style training’.
Officials insist there is no evidence of the men having military training – and even posited the alternative theory that it may have simply been a form of ‘bonding’ trip for the father and son.
A spokesperson for the military, Colonel Francel Magaretha Padilla, told the Daily Mail: ‘We are verifying all the official sources in the area to find out what activities the two men engaged in during their whole stay.
‘When it comes to the claims about the men being associated with militant groups is unverified because we have the data on the ground stating there is no indication that there is any terrorist activities happening in this area at this time.
‘We have been very engaged in our peace process and with our on the ground missions to eradicate local terrorist and communist terrorist groups.’
And President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters: ‘We also reject in the strongest terms the recent misleading claims that portray our country as a training hotspot for terrorism.
+26
View gallery
Jalal Abdullatif, 19, (pictured) who is from Marawi, said there are still remnants of ISIS in his hometown, with the extremists embedded in the community
+26
View gallery
Colonel Francel Magaretha Padilla, told the Daily Mail: ‘We are verifying all the official sources in the area to find out what activities the two men engaged in during their whole stay’
+26
View gallery
Dr Rommel Banaloi, who is the director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said there are still many active ISIS military training camps in the Philippines
+26
View gallery
The southern Philippines is now a key node in the global jihadist movement. A Moro Islamic Liberation Front Fighter walks through a marshland in Maguindanao Province
‘For years, we have acted decisively to dismantle terrorist networks, to secure communities, and to sustain our hard-earned peace. To dismiss these gains with unfounded speculation is not acceptable.’
Drieza Lininding, who is also from Marawi and is the leader of Moro Consensus Group even claimed that he finds any suggestion that terrorists are running military training camps or operating in the area ‘ridiculous’.
‘They want to paint our city as a hotbed for terrorists but there is no truth to that’ Lininding said. ‘There is no truth to that claim that, again, the Philippines is a hotbed for any terrorist organization.’
But we spoke to a number of residents of Mindanao – specifically the town of Marawi, which was besieged by the so-called Islamic State East Asia and Abou Al Saf in 2017 – who said ISIS fighters are still very much embedded within the community.
Jalal Abdullatif 19, who is from Marawi, said: ‘I was there when the uprising happened and the fighting broke out.
‘There are still remnants of ISIS there. Some of them are your neighbours. Muslims do not like them.
‘We see foreign Muslims visiting the town and we think they might be ISIS and they try to recruit Filipinos.
‘I don’t believe the government’s claim that there are no terrorists left. They are there, we can’t always see and identify them, but we believe they are operating there.
‘We just live our normal lives but we fear that another uprising in Marawi will happen as it destroyed much of our city last time.’
Jamil Amptaua, 24, who is also from the town that was under siege for five months, added: ‘There are terrorists in Marawi and I believe they are there in Davao city too.
‘People in Marawi have been influenced by ISIS. They target young people who are vulnerable and easily influenced.
‘Many of the young people there are impressionable and impulsive. These so-called freedom fighters get told they are fighting for Allah, that they are fighting for our ’cause’.
‘Many are easily lured because the line and the narrative of these home-grown terrorists is that by joining they will defend Marawi from attacks from the military as they portray security forces as the enemy.
‘I think this is also happening in Davao too, not just Marawi. I would never join as all I want is peace.’
Others, however, have taken a separate view, determined that ISIS and its associate groups are well and truly gone from the Philippines.
Drieza Lininding, who is also from Marawi and is the leader of Moro Consensus Group said he finds the insinuation that terrorists are running military training camps or operating in the area ‘ridiclous’.
‘They want to, you know, again, paint our city as hotbeds for terrorists but there is no truth to that and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) can testify to that.
‘They already made a statement that although there are still remnants, which we can count on our fingers, their membership is dwindling and they are hiding. So there is no truth to that claim that, again, the Philippines is a hotbed for any terrorist organization.’
Meanwhile, local mosque-goer from Manila, Ali Darangina told the Mail: ‘There is a problem with the media.
‘They label some groups as terrorists but in reality they are not terrorists, they are freedom fighters.’
Bricklaying apprentice Naveed, who was described as a ‘quiet’ but ‘weird operator’ by colleagues in Sydney, was under investigation there for his links to local extremists.
Following the aftermath of the tragedy, it became apparent Naveed had previously come under investigation due to his association with jihadist cleric Wissam Haddad and convicted IS youth recruiter Youssef Uweinat.
+26
View gallery
Shaykh Muhammed Yusop Pasigan, regional Grand Mufti, holds up one of the posters of the Akram men have been put up across the 70 mosques in the city of Davao in hopes of gaining some more information on their movements in the Philippines
+26
View gallery
The Daily Mail visited the Golden Mosque in Manila where they spoke with locals about the threat of terrorism in the Philippines
Meanwhile in 2020, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) investigated Naveed but concluded that he did not pose an ongoing risk that justified further monitoring.
Three years later, Sajid was granted a gun licence in 2023, while his son’s wallet showed he was a member of Zastava Hunting Association – a gun club.
Just over a week after the pair had left the Philippines, the police force in Panabo, the city they made a day trip to posted a message on its social media feeds.
It read: ‘Terrorism targets hope, but our resilience is stronger. Every act of solidarity is a step toward a safer world.’
A week later the Bondi attack stunned the world.