The father of Orlando nightclub killer Omar Mateen, Seddique Mateen, has been revealed as a Taliban sympathiser who has declared himself the president of Afghanistan.

Just hours before the Orlando shooting, Seddique Mateen posted a video on a Facebook page titled Provisional Government of Afghanistan — Seddique Mateen, where pretending to be Afghanistan’s president he orders the arrest of an array of Afghan political figures.

“I order national army, national police and intelligence department to immediately imprison Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, Zalmay Khalilzad, Atmar, and Sayyaf. They are against our countrymen, and against our homeland,” he says, while dressed in army fatigues, as Washington Post reports.

The most recent video on Mateen’s YouTube channel shows him declaring his candidacy for the Afghan presidency, while in other videos on his Facebook page he calls for a war on neighbouring Pakistan.

He says: “I would have ordered the 350,000 Afghan soldiers to directly attack Pakistan, because we need to get rid of this cancer.

“We do not have attack airplanes, lots of weapons, but we have got zeal and guts.”
Seddique Mateen suggested the attack had nothing to do with religion, and said that his son had become angry after seeing two gay men kissing in downtown Miami in front of his wife and son.

Afghan journalist Zubair Babakarkhail said: “He’s a joke in Afghanistan. Everyone laughed when he declared himself president.

“But he doesn’t say much that could be seen as being fundamentalist.

“He only wants to attack Pakistan. He does not criticise America and he’s not a supporter of the Taliban.”