Face of Nation : Jack Letts, who left the UK to affix the Islamic State group as an adolescent, has mentioned he had been an “enemy of Britain”.
The Muslim convert, who’s in custody in a Kurdish jail, admitted he was as soon as prepared to hold out a suicide assault.
The BBC interviewed the 23 12 months outdated in October however it may well solely be reported now after his dad and mom have been convicted of funding terrorism by sending him money.
The Residence Workplace didn’t remark however has beforehand mentioned it could attempt to block IS recruits hoping to return to the UK.
The interview is the fullest account but of the Briton’s time with IS in Syria, and Jack Letts mentioned he was not talking below duress.
Dubbed Jihadi Jack by the media, he transformed to Islam aged 16.
Two years later, in 2014, he dropped out of finding out for his A-levels at a faculty in Oxford, moved to Syria and joined IS – the jihadist terror group which grew to become recognized worldwide for its brutal mass killings and beheadings.
He married a girl whose household have been influential within the group in Fallujah, Iraq. He had a baby, who he has by no means seen.
In 2017 he left IS, however was captured and is in a Kurdish-run jail in northern Syria.
The Briton, who has not been stripped of his UK citizenship and is a twin Canadian nationwide, agreed to talk to the BBC, saying he wished to come back clear about his position in IS.
Reporter Quentin Sommerville, who interviewed the IS recruit whereas Kurdish safety forces have been current, mentioned there have been gaps in his story.
Challenged on whether or not he was a traitor, the IS fighter replied: “I do know I used to be undoubtedly an enemy of Britain.
“I did what I did,” he added. “I made a giant mistake, and that is what occurred.”
Pressed on why he deserted the UK to affix the jihadist group – which has carried out terror assaults the world over – he mentioned: “I believed I used to be leaving one thing behind and going to one thing higher.”
He mentioned his house life had been comfy, including: “I had an excellent relationship with my mum, particularly, and my dad as nicely, truly.
“I used to work with my dad. He was a farmer… I used to like truly working with him. I had an excellent relationship.”
He mentioned he thinks the choice to journey to Syria was a “bizarre mixture of ideas” and “bizarre kind of confusion”.
“I believed it was some kind of morality truly on the time,” he mentioned. “Why do I’ve this good life, and others do not? After which, on high of that, the thought of it being an Islamic state and it is truly your obligation to do that.
“I feel it was in all probability only a very emotionally-driven interval of my life. I am simply glad that I did not die.”
The previous IS member mentioned the group used to “encourage you in a kind of oblique method” to placed on a suicide vest. He mentioned he made it apparent to militants that “if there was a battle, I am prepared”.
“I used to need to at one level, imagine it or not” he added. “Not a vest. I wished to do it in a automobile. I mentioned if there’s an opportunity, I’ll do it.”
He mentioned he now believes suicide assaults are “haram”- that means forbidden in Islamic regulation.
He mentioned initially he beloved residing in Raqqa. He fought on the frontlines and was badly injured in Iraq.
One of many primary causes he left IS, he mentioned, was as a result of they began to kill individuals who he knew have been Muslims.
“I did not have a full plan. I believed I would just get to Turkey and ring my mum, and simply be like, ‘I need to meet you one way or the other’.”
His dad and mom, John Letts, 58, and Sally Lane, 57, confronted trial, accused of sending or making an attempt to ship their son cash after he had joined IS.
On Friday, they have been discovered responsible of 1 cost of funding terrorism by sending £223 in 2015. They have been cleared of sending him an extra £1,000 and couldn’t attain a verdict on a 3rd cost associated to an try and ship £500.
- The place is IS nonetheless lively all over the world?
When informed that there was little or no urge for food within the UK to provide him a second likelihood, Mr Letts mentioned: “It is not like I am interesting to the British public to provide me a second likelihood.
“If I used to be a member of the British public, I would not give me a second likelihood in all probability.”
Challenged that his recruitment to IS – as a Westerner who travelled from Britain – was a rallying cry for the fear group, he mentioned he realised it “had extra that means” than for a Syrian recruit, and added that IS used him as a kind of “poster boy”.
“The truth that I got here from England, et cetera, I perceive that it made a giant distinction.”
Though admitting he fought for IS, he mentioned he didn’t imagine he killed anybody.
As a twin nationwide, he has been in contact with Canadian authorities and they’re believed to be contemplating permitting him to depart Syria for Canada.
The Residence Workplace didn’t touch upon the case, however believes that anybody who travels to Syria is placing themselves in peril and will pose a nationwide safety danger to the UK.
Residence Secretary Sajid Javid has beforehand mentioned he would “not hesitate” to stop the return of people that travelled to assist IS.
In an interview with the Occasions, Mr Javid mentioned {that a} vary of measures have been out there to “cease individuals who pose a critical risk from returning to the UK, together with depriving them of their British citizenship or excluding them from the nation”.
