Jihad teens ‘are top scholars’

TWO teenage boys picked up at Sydney airport allegedly on their way to join Islamist fighters in the Middle East are top students.

TWO teenage boys picked up at Sydney airport allegedly on their way to join Islamist fighters in the Middle East are top students at one of NSW’s most prestigious schools.

The unnamed brothers, who were detained by Customs offic­ials as they attempted to travel to Turkey almost a fortnight ago, were star students at Sydney Boys High School, the Seven Network reported last night.

The boys, aged 16 and 17, performed extremely well academ­ic­ally, and excelled in debating and sport at the selective state school.

Hinting at possible conformity with Wahhabi beliefs, the elder of the boys grew a beard last year.

Records of the boys’ online activ­ity show they commented on a Facebook post from Syria and watched videos by Sydney-bred radical Islamic fundamentalist Sheik Feiz Mohammed.

The arrest of the boys follows The Australian’s revelation in ­December that Islamic State video editor Samir Atwani had ­recently graduated from former prime minister John Howard’s alma mater, Canterbury Boys High, with a university admission score of 96.25.

The boys, from southwest Sydney, were released into the custody of their parents, who had apparently been oblivious to their plans to travel abroad.

When they were arrested under the Foreign Fighters Act on March 6 they had been attempting to board Malaysia Airlines Flight 122 to Kuala Lumpur and continue on to Turkey. Items in their luggage caught the attention of Customs officials, who later found a file on an electronic device coaching them on how to leave the country undetected.

The Australian Federal Police released a statement last night saying their investigations were ongoing. Sydney Boys High School could not be reached for comment.