'Jihadi Jack' charged with being Islamic State member

October 28, 2017 17:50

A 21-year-old British Muslim convert dubbed 'Jihadi Jack' has been charged with being a member of the Islamic State terrorist network, media reports said on Saturday.

Jack Letts had travelled to Syria in 2014 and was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPG -- the group fighting against Islamic State -- when he fled Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the terror network earlier this year.

The man from the city of Oxford has claimed in the past that he is opposed to Islamic State ideology.

Quoting a statement issued by the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria -- a self-declared autonomous region -- the BBC said Letts had been taken to a prison in Qamishli, Rojava, northern Syria.

"Jack Letts is currently under investigation by local and global anti-terror units. Once the investigation is concluded, the outcome will be communicated to Jack's parents, and their legal representatives and to the officials of relevant governments," the statement said.

Jack Letts, who also holds a Canadian passport, remains in the custody of the local DFNS police force, the Asayish.

The statement adds: "We ask the parents of Jack Letts and their legal representative to ask the UK and Canadian governments to officially request the handover of Jack Letts from the officials of the DFNS so that the handover can proceed officially.

"However, so far there has been no official request from neither Canadian or British governments."

The communication marks the first time that Kurdish forces have confirmed the capture of Letts as a prisoner of war.

Letts had converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford and travelled to Jordan, aged 18, after dropping out of school.

He reportedly got married in Iraq and now has a child.

His parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, have denied he went to Syria to fight with Islamic State, and have started a petition that claims he had "disappeared in a Guantanamo-style black site" in Kurdish-controlled territory. -- PTI

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