Omar Mateen
© Youtube / DAHBOO777
As the police uncover more information on Orlando mass shooter Omar Mateen, it has come to light that his father is a rather curious media person. In a video uploaded to Facebook, he claims to be the President of Afghanistan.

According to Gawker.com citing the Washington Post, the shooter's father is Seddique Mateen, known under the alias "Mir Seddique." He is a man of strong political views and a former host of a political TV show that, on occasion, praised the Afghan Taliban.

Seddique hosted the "Durand Jirga Show," a political show on channel Payam-e-Afghan which broadcasts from California. According to videos found on YouTube and Facebook, Seddique, speaking the Dari language, occasionally praised the Afghan Taliban while denouncing the current Pakistani government.


Mateen's most recent video of the show on YouTube was posted over a year ago, and apparently consists of him declaring his candidacy for the presidency of Afghanistan. This could be perceived solely as acting, because actual presidential elections in Afghanistan took place in 2014.


Seddique stopped posting to YouTube at about a year ago, but continued posting to Facebook. His most recent video has been published just hours before his son began his attack in Orlando, and features Mir Seddique, acting as Afghan president, ordering imprisonment of various prominent Afghan leaders.

However, despite being a man of strong political views, Mir Seddique said earlier that he was unaware of his son's actions and that their whole family apologizes for Omar Mateen's actions.

"We are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren't aware of any action he is taking, we are in shock like the whole country. This had nothing to do with religion," he said.

Omar Seddique, who killed 50 men and injured 53 in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, worked for G4S, the world's largest security firm, since 2007 and carried a gun as part of his duties, according to the company's representatives.