American who fought with IS surrenders in Syria

A MAN believed to be an American citizen who was fighting with Islamic State militants has surrendered in Syria and is being held in American custody.

A Pentagon spokesman said the man surrendered to Syrian Democratic forces around Tuesday and was turned over to US military force in Syria.

Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said the man is being legally detained as a known enemy combatant.

The decision to legally detain the man as a “known enemy combatant” comes as the Trump administration has been working to craft a detention policy, which could determine whether the US will resume sending detainees to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

President Barack Obama did not send any new detainees to Guantanamo and the currently there are only about 40 people held there.

Trump has expressed a willingness to send new detainees to the site, but so far has not.

It is not clear if the detainee, who has not been identified, and the American forces holding him are still in Syria, but the plan is to take the man into Iraq, where he would be then turned over to the US State Department or Justice Department.

Washington said they are working out what they will do with the man if he is confirmed as an American.

Pardiss Kebriaei, a senior staff attorney for the Centre for Constitutional Rights, said that even if the detainee was directly fighting in the war he must be “charged promptly or released, not held indefinitely, and treated humanely in the interim.”