Obituary: Atique Sharifi

His college said he would have made a success of life in the UK

London was meant to be a place of refuge where Atique Sharifi could put behind him the atrocities of his homeland.

The young Afghan national was one of the few members of his family to escape death at the hands of the Taleban.

But three years after fleeing Kabul, the 24-year-old Muslim was killed by a suicide bomber on a Piccadilly Line train at Russell Square.

A resident of Hounslow in west London, Mr Sharifi had been studying English at West Thames College since September 2002, where he drew praise from staff.

Orphaned

He worked in a pizza take-away in his spare time to send money back to his younger sister still in Afghanistan, his tutor Harminder Ubhie said.

Their mother and father had died during the Kabul War, she said.

Ms Ubhie described Mr Sharifi as a highly-motivated student who always made the others laugh.

I knew he would be one of our high achievers College tutor Harminder Ubhie

"He was a delight to have in the group," she said.

"From the first month I knew I could push this student. I knew he would be one of our high achievers.

"I admired him for his dedication to come to my classes. He said it was because I was an excellent teacher and he was learning so much."

He had a "youthful and energetic nature" and helped new members of the group to settle in, she said.

College principal Thalia Marriott said it was a "deep irony" that Mr Sharifi had left his native Afghanistan to seek safety in the UK "only to find his fate at the hands of extremists here".

The dedicated young man was clearly going to make a success of life in the UK, she added.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai paid tribute to Mr Sharifi when he visited the memorial garden at King's Cross station, laying a floral tribute of white roses and standing in silence.