In 2018, Maren Ueland traveled to Morocco. Her mother thought it was for walking in the mountains. Later she learned that the reason was probably something else entirely. – Maren was going to say her last goodbye to Salome. That was the driving force to travel. I am absolutely sure of that, says Maren’s mother, Irene Ueland. Maren Ueland loved nature and usually took her dog with her on the trips she went on. Photo: private Maren Ueland and French Salome Girard went to folk college together in 2011 and were good friends. After six months, Salome decided to leave the folk college and move home. Salome was not allowed to tell Maren, but left a letter in which she wrote that she was absolutely certain that she and Maren would meet again. “So no goodbye, maybe it’s just better like this and I’m 300% sure I’ll see you again anyway”, writes Salome to Maren. Photo: Private Salome travels to Morocco In a new letter Salome sent Maren a few weeks later, she told her that she missed Maren. Salome also wrote that she was looking forward to going to Morocco the next day. “… I´m leaving for Morocco the day after tomorrow”, writes Salome in another letter to Maren. Photo: Privat While the letter from Salome was on its way to Norway, on 28 April 2011, a terrorist detonated a bomb in a cafe in Marrakech. 17 people were killed. One of them was 18-year-old Salome Girard. French Salome Girard and Maren Ueland were good friends and went to the same folk college in Agder. Photo: Agder folkehøyskole Maren travels to Morocco In 2018, Maren and Danish Louisa Vesterager Jespersen went to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The two were experienced outdoorsmen and were going to travel around the country for a month. – Maren was thoughtful, brilliant, reflective and happy. She lived a lot. It came to an abrupt end, says Irene Ueland. Morocco had not been hit by terror since the bomb that killed Salome seven years earlier. But in the middle of the night it happened again. Terrorists attacked Maren and Louisa’s tent. Both were killed. At the crime scene was the letter that Maren received from Salome in 2011. – It is bestial and complete. They film it, it’s so horrible. How is it possible? That two friends at Agder folk college both die in terror in Morocco? Irene Ueland has many pictures of her daughter, but is unable to hang them on the wall yet. The loss is too great. Photo: MOHAMMED ALAYOUBI / news Whether Maren managed to visit the cafe where Salome was killed, the mother does not know. Maren Ueland (28) and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (24) were killed during a terrorist attack in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco on Monday 17 December 2018. Want reconciliation Now the life project of Irene Ueland is the foundation she started in 2019. Marengardens Fredsbyggende Stiftelse/Mor til Mor works for to fight the extremism that cost his daughter and her friends their lives. – I will never forgive the actions, but I believe in reconciliation, says the mother. In 2019, four men were convicted of murder or complicity in the murders of Maren Ueland and Danish Louisa Vesterager Jespersen. One of them was Abderrahim Khayali. On Tuesday 28 February this year, he was found dead in his own cell, according to the Moroccan prison service. – Tragedy upon tragedy. No more lives must be lost. I know no hatred or revenge. It’s the other way around, says Maren’s mother. Will meet the mothers of the perpetrators Irene Ueland understands that people find it strange that she sees the perpetrators as victims. – Nobody is born a terrorist. You are taught to be crazy, she believes. The mother wants to travel to Morocco to meet the mothers of the four perpetrators. Everyone has agreed to meet. She will have a film crew with her on the trip. She wants to document the meeting with the other mothers in the hope of spreading the message about peace and reconciliation work, but says they are waiting to get permission to film in Morocco. – I want to meet the other mothers. Mother of mother. I believe that in such a meeting of people there is a healing and reconciling power. The dream is to get the other mothers involved and work together to prevent radicalization and violent extremism, she says. Irene Ueland has also written a letter to the mother of Abderrahim Khayali. The letter has been translated into Arabic and now delivered to Khayali’s mother. The letter from Irene Ueland to the mother of Abderrahim Khayali Dear Mother of Abderrahim Khayali. I have a strong desire to express my deepest condolences as a mother to a mother where we have both lost each of our children in Terrorism. Terror has many victims. That more lives will be lost in our context is very painful to think about. Your son… Victim of radicalization…, duped and brainwashed… My daughter… Completely random victim who was killed in a bestial way by IS sympathizers. Feel the sadness and the nausea…Really feel for you in the loss of your son. The physical pain..the anxiety..the nausea…the shock…the nightmares at night…and then waking up to a living nightmare… But…..I can’t fathom how you might feel about losing your Boy 3 times. First to radicalisation, then a death sentence and finally suicide in a prison cell. I am very sorry that I have not been able to get to you yet. Know that all 4 of you mothers have been waiting for me for over 1 year. We were very close to making it this autumn, but were stopped just before… I promise I will work hard and do everything I can to meet you as soon as possible. I wish you all the best that you can manage in this unbelievably difficult and sad time you are in now. Kind Regards Irene mother to Maren – I believe in a change. It can save many lives, believes Irene Ueland. Khayali’s defender Hafida Maksaoui Photo: news Khayali’s defender, Hafida Maksaoui, says that Irene Ueland is welcome in Morocco, and that it is important that she comes. – It will be incredibly powerful to meet them. I am very excited and hope we can have a good dialogue. I will do everything in my power to make it happen, says Irene Ueland. Khayali said he regretted She thinks a lot about whether Khayali’s life might not have been lost if she had left earlier. – If we had been in Morocco and talked to the mothers and the message had reached the prison, he might have had a little hope and not taken his own life, says Irene Ueland. Khayali left the scene just before Maren and Louisa were killed, but after the murders he posed with the three killers. In a video, they swore allegiance to the terrorist organization IS. During the trial Khayali told that he had left the place because he regretted joining. He was convicted of helping the main men to escape. – My client had psychological problems. During the conversations I had with him ahead of the trial, he cried all the time. He said he regretted and was sorry for having been part of a terrorist cell, says defender Maksaoui. According to Maksaoui, Khayali joined the terrorist cell because of poverty, lack of future prospects, ignorance and illiteracy. – Maren would have been proud Outside Irene Ueland’s house stands Maren’s old Volvo. – We cannot let the car die. I take very good care of it. It will be a vintage car. The mother says that outdoorsy Maren loved traveling around in the black car and exploring nature. Maren often traveled with the Volvo to pick mushrooms. Photo: Privat While news is visiting, Maren’s niece Lilli and her friend Brit stood in the outhouse and carved and plastered two mushrooms made of wood. The mushrooms are hung in the mirror of Maren’s car. – If Maren had seen this, she would have been so proud. Maren’s car is well looked after by her mother. Now it has been given a new decoration. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / no
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Maren Ueland traveled to Morocco for a final farewell to the late Salome – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
