Brit ISIS fighter begs to return home to High Wycombe to face justice as terror group crumbles
A YOUNG Brit who fled to Syria to fight for ISIS now wants to come home and face justice, it has been reported.
Shabazz Suleman disappeared while on a family holiday to Turkey three years ago and had been in Raqqa, Islamic State's former capital before it fell to the terror group's enemies this month.
The former grammar school pupil from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, told that he had become disillusioned with jihadism and chose to desert the terrorist group.
Via encrypted messages he told the newspaper he went through "intense" indoctrination by the group, adding: "I never thought I was being brainwashed until I saw the way they treat other Sunnis."
Suleman, who is thought to have left ISIS-controlled territory and fallen into the hands of a Turkish militia, reportedly admits undergoing weapons training and carrying out guard duties, but denies taking part in killings.
His father, Afzal Suleman, 46, said he knew "for a fact" that his son had become a civilian and had not been on the battlefield for two years.
"(He) never killed anyone or anything," Mr Suleman told the newspaper.
"At the end of the day if he has committed a crime he should go to court. We just want him home."
Suleman's hopes to return emerged after Government minister Rory Stewart said the only way of dealing with British Islamic State fighters in Syria would be to kill them in almost every case.
His remarks came after Max Hill QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, called for a focus on "reintegration" in cases where authorities have decided individuals who return should not face prosecution.
Mr Hill said it was right that security services have left space for those who travelled out of a sense of naivety, at a young age and who return in a "state of utter disillusionment" to be diverted away from the criminal courts.
A report released this week said Britain has one of the largest populations of returning fighters and others who travelled to join Islamic State.
Around 850 UK-linked individuals "of national security concern" made the journey to engage with the conflict in Syria, with just under half of those believed to have come back.
The figure of approximately 425 returnees is the fourth highest for individual nations in an analysis published by the Soufan Centre and the Global Strategy Network.
Mr Suleman is likely to be handed to the Turkish authorities and will be able to seek consular assistance.
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