German IS ‘shoemaker’ wants to go home
From northern Syria, Muslim convert Sufyan is imploring his native Germany to take him back, having been captured years after joining the Islamic State group’s so-called “caliphate”.
His beard neatly buzzed, Sufyan is one of hundreds of foreigners held by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in war-torn Syria, accused of fighting for IS.
The 36-year-old insists he was not a fighter but a misguided civilian making orthopaedic shoes and prosthetics in IS territory.
“I am not Jihadi John, I am not Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, I am not Adnani,” said Sufyan, listing IS’ infamous British executioner, its elusive chief and its now-dead spokesman.
“I just made limbs,” added the pale-skinned Sufyan, who refused to give his real name and said he was from Stuttgart in southwest Germany.
He was selected to speak to AFP by the YPG, who detained him around a year ago and were present during the interview.
They have refused to try foreign fighters in their custody, urging Western countries to take them back. Some foreign governments have agreed to do so, but most are reluctant.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are holding several alleged German IS members, including Mohammad Haydar Zammar, a Syrian-born German national accused of helping plan the Sept 11 attacks.
Berlin is not known to have repatriated anyone, but Sufyan hopes he, his Syrian wife and their son can start afresh in Germany.
“People make mistakes and I was naive,” he said, dressed in a yellow hoody with a side zip, cargo pants, and black beanie.
“I just want to go back to my old life.
“If I can come back to Germany and if Germany wants to punish me, I will accept this, to stay in prison,” Sufyan said.
“I hope it will not be a long sentence, because I miss already my wife and my son.”
He hopes to study or open his own business in his homeland.