Jihadi stuck in limbo returns to US

A suspected US jihadist, trapped for days between the Turkish and Greek borders, will be sent back to the US.

Men suspected of being Islamic State (IS) group fighters walk together towards a screening point for new arrivals run by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Picture: AFP

A suspected US jihadist, trapped for days between the Turkish and Greek borders, will be sent back to the US following talks with Washington.

The man, identified as Muhammad Darwis B, a US citizen of Jordanian descent, was captured in Syria on suspicion of ties to Islamic State, according to state news agency Anadolu, as Turkey said it was also deporting six Germans and one Briton.

Turkish authorities say the US initially refused to accept him, and that he chose deportation to Greece, only for Greek authorities to refuse him entry on Monday. He has since been trapped in no-man’s land between the borders, next to Turkey’s northeastern province of Edirne.

Turkish border guards have provided him with food and a car to sleep in at night, Anadolu said.

There was an apparent breakthrough on Friday, with the Turkish interior ministry saying: “The necessary proceedings are being undertaken to send back the foreign terrorist fighter to America after the US committed to taking him back to the country,” according to Anadolu.

In Washington, Nathan Sales, the State Department counterterrorism co-ordinator, confirmed talks on the case with Turkey but said he could not give further details because of US privacy laws. “We’re working closely with the Turks and the Greeks,” Mr Sales said.

Turkey has criticised Western countries for not taking back captured members of Islamic State, and has lately publicised its ­efforts to deport jihadists to their countries of origin. It follows criticism of Turkey’s offensive last month against Kurdish militants in northern Syria, which Western governments complained would undermine the fight against Islamic State.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said last week Turkey had nearly 1200 foreign members of Islamic State in custody, and had captured 287 during the offensive in Syria.

The Hurriyet newspaper said on Wednesday 959 suspects were being prepared for deportation, with the largest numbers coming from Iraq, Syria and Russia.

The Turkish interior ministry on Thursday said seven Germans and one Briton would be deported to Berlin and London respectively. Six German “foreign terrorist fighters” were deported to Berlin on Thursday, DHA news agency reported.

Four of the six were women, the agency said, and were put on a plane from Istanbul airport to Berlin. The Metropolitan Police in London said a man was arrested on terrorism offences after arriving at Heathrow airport on an inbound flight to Britain from Turkey. “He was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts,” the police said. “The arrest is Syria-related,” it added.

AFP