Image caption Jack Letts, from Oxford, travelled to Syria in 2014

The father of a British-Canadian national detained in Kurdish-held northern Syria is asking Canadian officials to help secure his release.

John Letts is also pleading for their assistance in the repatriation of other Canadians being held in the region.

His son, Jack Letts, 23, dubbed "Jihadi Jack", travelled to Syria in 2014.

He was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPG - the group fighting against the Islamic State - when he left IS territory.

Mr Letts said his son has been detained for the past 18 months and that his health is failing.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The parents of Jack Letts, John Letts and Sally Lane, have asked Canada and the UK to help repatriate their son

"I need your help to save my son's life," he told journalists in Ottawa, where he was meeting officials on Tuesday to discuss his son's case and those of other detained Canadians.

John Letts and his wife are facing charges of funding terrorism after sending their son money two years ago, which they say was to fund their son's escape from Syria.

They have pleaded not guilty.

Mr Letts said they have not been able to speak openly about their son's case in the UK due to contempt of court rules.

"In fact there's a very good chance I'll be sent to prison again when I fly back tomorrow," he said.

"Unfortunately I don't have any choice but to speak out because I love my son and think he's innocent."

The couple, who along with their son have dual citizenship, have made repeated attempts to get the British and Canadian governments to intervene and bring their son home.

Mr Letts said Canadian officials had been initially helpful when his son was first captured, but have since said it would be too dangerous to have him removed.

He said his son was "naive and very religious" when he travelled to Syria at the age of 18 and denies he was there to fight with IS.

Jack Letts converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford, England.

It is unclear how much evidence exists about the true nature of his activities in Syria.

At the Ottawa press conference, Mr Letts appeared alongside Families Against Violent Extremism (Fave), which said there are currently nine Canadian adults and several children, including a number under the age of six, being held in Kurdish prison camps in Syria.

Fave said it is concerned that the families are housed in tents and lack adequate clothing to handle the approaching winter.

"These people need to be brought home to Canada and they need to be brought home now," said Fave director Alexandra Bain.

Ms Bain said representatives from the UK-based legal Reprieve would travel to northern Syria to help facilitate their return if Canada agrees to supply the detainees with travel documents.

Canada says that there is no safe way to get these Canadians out of the region. There are also concerns they would be detained by authorities and face charges in neighbouring countries if they did manage to leave Syria.

In a statement, Canada's Foreign Affairs department told the BBC that its ability to provide consular assistance is "extremely limited" but that it is engaged to the extent possible in the cases raised by Fave.

"Canadian diplomats have established a communications channel with local Kurdish authorities in order to verify the whereabouts and well-being of Canadian citizens," it said.

There has been significant debate in both Britain and Canada over what should happen to returning IS fighters who are still in Syria. </s> The father of a British-Canadian national detained in Kurdish-held northern Syrian has asked Canadian officials to help secure his release.

John Letts has asked authorities to help his 23-year old son Jack Letts, more widely known as "Jihadi Jack", after he travelled to Syria in 2014.

Since leaving the UK Jack was pictured with long hair and beard in Isil territory in Syria holding his index finger up to the sky, an Islamic gesture used by Isil as a symbol of their cause.

He was detained by the SDF last year, however he has not given an interview from prison.

Mr Letts is hoping to bring his son home, as-well-as pleading for their assistance in the repatriation of other Canadians being held in the region.

Mr Letts said his son has been detained for the past 18 months and that his health is failing.

"I need your help to save my son's life," he told journalists in Ottawa, where he was meeting officials on Tuesday to discuss his son's case and those of other detained Canadians.

Mr Letts and Jack's mother Sally Lane allegedly sent or attempted to send their son a total of £1,723 between September 2015 and January 2016. </s> CTVNews.ca Staff





John Letts is asking the federal government to help free his British-Canadian son Jack Letts, an accused ISIS fighter who is being held by Kurdish forces in Syria.

In an interview with CTV’s Power Play, Letts said he’d be “the first to condemn him” if his son committed any criminal acts.

Jack Letts crossed into ISIS-held territory in Syria back in 2014 and was subsequently nicknamed “Jihadi Jack” by British media. He’s been imprisoned without charge for 18 months.

His father says his son is innocent and has written to members of Parliament and Global Affairs Canada in a bid to secure his son’s release.

Letts said his son had originally travelled to Kuwait to study Arabic and Islamic studies and converted to Islam. But Jack Letts eventually became bothered by the “horrors” of the Syrian civil war he’d seen playing out on TV and eventually travelled there.

“He was adamantly reading the Koran and saying it was the duty of every Muslim to help other Muslims, if they can,” Letts explained. Letts stressed his son had left Oxford, U.K., before ISIS had declared its caliphate so it hadn’t formed a lot of its borders.

But once Letts was in Syria, he learned that anyone looking to escape “couldn’t get out … because ISIS would chop your head off.” His father pointed to the incidents where those caught smuggling people out of ISIS territory were “crucified in the town square.”

Two weeks ago, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer blasted the Trudeau government over reports that consular officials initiated contact with Jack Letts -- whom Scheer alleged was a "known jihadi fighter" -- about coming to Canada.

But Letts asserts Scheer was simply repeating false “stuff he picked up from the media.” Letts said he even offered to share all the information he had with Scheer.

According to Letts, Global Affairs Canada spoke to his son a year ago and is aware of the “terrible conditions” in the Kurdish prison camps, but said it’s too dangerous to move him.

On Tuesday, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said people who leave Canada and enter into active war zones do so at their own peril.

“When you leave the comfortable confines of Canadian democracy and travel halfway around the world to go into a war zone and associate yourself with terrorists then you need to bear the consequences of that behaviour,” he said.

Goodale added Canada was not legally responsible to repatriate Letts or any Canadian in a similar situation.

“No offer of repatriation has been made and there is certainly no deal with the Kurds,” he said. “We need to be very sure we are not putting our diplomatic and consul officials at any risk.”

These comments were in line with what he had said last Thursday, when he also stressed Canadian security and intelligence forces were working in collaboration with their international counterparts to investigate all Canadians who travelled to Syria, "with the absolute determination to lay charges and to prosecute in every case." </s> BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:20 A.M.) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) may hand over the infamous Canadian Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) terrorist dubbed “Jihadi Jack” to Canada, a new report claimed this past week.

Jack Letts, a suspected Daesh* fighter with dual British-Canadian citizenship, is likely to be extradited to Ottawa rather than to London, The Guardian reported on Saturday, citing unnamed Canadian and Kurdish sources.

Letts, dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by the British media, is among alleged extremists held in Kurdish custody in northern Syria. Canadian government is said to have agreed to extradite an estimated 11 citizens, including Letts.

Unlike the UK, which maintains that it cannot provide consular assistance to British citizens overseas if there are no local UK consular services available, Canada says that citizens with purported terrorist links detained in Syria and Iraq have the right to return home to face questioning or stand trial.

However, the daily claims, Ottawa has recently backed out of the deal “without giving reasons.” One explanation is that the government fears an influx of suspected Daesh fighters to the country before the 2019 elections, said Canadian terrorism expert Amarnath Amarasingam.

Long Way Home

The 23-year-old Jack Letts, from Oxford, travelled to Syria in 2014 and was detained by a Kurdish militant group in May 2017, after he fled the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa.

There is still uncertainty hanging over his activities in Syria: while Kurdish officials have accused him of being a member of Daesh, Letts has denied having any links with the infamous terrorist group. Letts contacted Canadian diplomats from prison earlier this year and begged for their help to escape alleged ill-treatment by the SDF.

As Letts’ repatriation to Canada has been put on ice, there’s still an opportunity he can return to the UK and face charges there if he is allowed to retain his British citizenship.

According to a Canadian government report dated late 2017, there were “just over 190 extremists” with links to Canada engaged in terrorist activity overseas, mostly in Syria and Iraq.

Sources: Sputnik, The Guardian

Advertisements </s> The father of Jack Letts, a young British-Canadian man dubbed "Jihadi Jack" by British media, said information exists that proves his son was not a supporter of the Islamic State — but that information is sealed as part of a court case against himself and his wife.

The extraordinary claim was made by John Letts during a news conference on Parliament Hill Tuesday, prior to a meeting between Letts and senior officials at Global Affairs Canada.

"For three years we have not been allowed to talk about our case, or counter lies that have been printed about Jack, because of contempt of court rules," Letts said, referring to the charges of funding terrorism filed by British authorities against himself and his wife, Sally Lane.

"I want everyone here to know what we know — that Jack worked with others in the religious opposition to ISIS in Raqqa. He condemned ISIS on social media and he wants to spend the rest of his life living peacefully and bearing witness against ISIS."

Letts and his wife were charged in early 2016 with sending money overseas, or arranging to do so, when there was reason to believe it could be used terrorism. Their case is still pending.

They maintain their innocence and say they were sending their son cash to get him out of ISIS-controlled territory in Syria, where he had gone as part of a religious quest in 2014.

Letts said Tuesday he's expecting British authorities to arrest him upon his return to the U.K. on Wednesday because he's violated the publication ban surrounding details of the case.

"Unfortunately, I do not have any other choice than to speak out because I love my son and I think he's innocent," Letts said.

The fate of Jack Letts and eight other Canadians who left the country to join ISIS has been the subject of furious debate in Parliament.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has attacked the Liberal government for helping Letts and considering his appeal to come to this country.

"British terrorist Jihadi Jack, a U.K. citizen, who may or may not have ever set foot in Canada, reportedly received help from a government representative," the Conservative leader said, leading off question period on Oct. 16. "The Liberals proactively reached out to him to help him come to Canada. Why?"

On Tuesday, Letts said he and his wife have been subjected to a "media witch hunt" and their son is guilty only of being a devout Muslim and going to Syria in 2014 to help other Muslims.

"He felt he had a religious duty to help others who were suffering," said John Letts.

The younger Letts is a Muslim convert who grew up in Oxford. His father is Canadian. His mother is a landed immigrant in this country and all of their children hold dual citizenship.

The image painted of Jack by his father, in the news conference and in multiple media interviews this week, stands in stark contrast to the one presented in the House of Commons.

In an open letter to MPs recently, Letts accused Scheer of spreading "lies" about his son, but chose not to renew the attack directly on the opposition leader on Tuesday.

He said he would be the first to condemn Jack if there was proof his son was involved with ISIS, and that those who did fight for ISIS should be brought to justice.

His case, Letts said, is being conflated with others, such as Canadian ISIS fighter Muhammad Ali, who went by the name Abu Turaab Al-Kanadi.

Ali told Global News earlier this month he wants to return home and is one of at least three Canadians who allegedly travelled to Syria to join ISIS and are now imprisoned by the Kurds.

The Liberal government has said it cannot help with the repatriation because it has no consular support nearby, the region is unstable and officials cannot safely travel there.

Alexandra Bain, director of Families Against Violent Extremism, said her organization helped U.S. officials bring an American woman and her four children home from Kurdish-held territory in Syria in August.

She said her organization and another charity, Reprieve, have offered to do the same thing for the Canadian detainees, but they have been turned down.

Clive Stafford-Smith, the lawyer representing Letts and the founder of Reprieve, is prepared to make the journey to northern Syria and only asks that the Canadian government issue emergency passports that would allow the detainees back into the country.

Bain said she believes the Liberal government is "afraid and they're not sure how to do (it), and we would really like to help because we have done it already."

Members of the other detainees' families did not appear at Tuesday's news conference "because they greatly fear the negative repercussions of appearing in public," Bain said.

John Letts apparently had no such fear.

"Other countries, including the USA, have brought their citizens home, so why can't Canada?" he said, before addressing the reporters in the room directly.

"I need your help to save my son's life." </s> John Letts, father of Jack Letts, also known as Jihadi Jack, along with Families Against Violent Extremism are in Ottawa to push for plans to secure repatriation for Canadian citizens held in Syria.

John Letts, father of Jack Letts, also known as Jihadi Jack, along with Families Against Violent Extremism are in Ottawa to push for plans to secure repatriation for Canadian citizens held in Syria. 0:00 </s> For the first several months, the messages suggested Canada was willing, even eager, to get Jack Letts out of a Kurdish prison in northern Syria.

Global Affairs Canada discussed possible routes for moving the former resident out of ISIL-controlled Raqqa after his release. They asked the joint British-Canadian citizen’s jailers to provide him medical help, and said they were “extremely concerned” by reports he had been tortured.

“We are working diligently on your son’s file,” consular officials insisted to Letts’ U.K.-based parents.

Then earlier this year, the diplomats’ tone changed abruptly, the same officials saying their hands were tied by a lack of Canadian presence in Syria. Their ability to help the Muslim convert dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by British media was “extremely limited,” they now said.

The change in tone amid a 16-month exchange of emails — copies of which were obtained by the National Post — has left parents John Letts and Sally Lane deeply frustrated — and wondering if outside powers have gotten to the Canadian government.
• Parents of alleged ISIL member ‘Jihadi Jack’ plead with Canadian MPs to help free him from Syria
• Britain’s ‘Jihadi Jack’ could end up in Canadian hands after months in the custody of Kurdish militias

Clive Stafford Smith, a prominent human-rights lawyer helping the family, said a senior Canadian political source told him the UK government had asked Ottawa “to do nothing (about Letts) without British consent.”

“As a British citizen myself, I have to apologize to the Canadian people for that kind of paternalism, and encourage you not to bow to British pressure,” Stafford Smith said Monday by email.

Global Affairs spokesman Stefano Maron did not respond to a question about possible U.K. intervention. But he said the security situation on the ground in Syria — even the relatively peaceful Kurdish-controlled enclave where Letts and others Canadians are being held — makes it difficult to provide them much assistance.

Diplomats have, however, set up a “communications channel” with Kurdish authorities to verify “the whereabouts and well-being of Canadian citizens,” he said.

The fate of Canadians linked to ISIL is also a politically volatile issue, with the Liberals accused of being too hesitant to repatriate and charge ex-fighters.

The opposition Conservatives say the government should, in fact, do nothing more on the Letts case, unless it collects enough evidence to prosecute him.

“We don’t want Jack Letts in Canada,” MP Pierre Paul-Hus, the Tories’ public safety critic, said Monday. “And I think a majority of Canadians feel the same way.”

Jack Letts, who grew up in Oxford but is a joint citizen like the rest of his family, travelled to the Middle East in 2014 after converting to Islam. He lived in ISIL-controlled Iraq, married a woman there, then ended up in Raqqa, Syria, the de-facto capital of the short-lived ISIL caliphate.

His parents say he never joined the Islamic State, came to vehemently oppose it, and eventually escaped Raqqa, only to be captured by the Kurdish forces who worked with a U.S.-led military coalition to defeat ISIL.

A British newspaper had called him Jihadi Jack, and the name stuck, evoking images of other Western ISIL members videotaped taking part in atrocities. There appears to be no evidence that Letts himself committed any violent acts. But he and his parents have said he would be willing to face prosecution and even prison in Canada if a case against him emerged.

Meanwhile, his organic-farmer father and book-editor mother now face charges themselves of attempting to fund terrorism, after trying to send their son the equivalent of $2,900 he said he needed to escape Raqqa.

In his limited communication with the outside world, Letts has indicated he is in deteriorating physical and mental health, kept in harsh, crowded conditions.

With the British government refusing to help, the parents turned to Canada last year. John Letts grew up near Chatham, Ont., and Sally Lane’s family moved to Ontario when she was a child, but the couple moved back to England after meeting here.

Global Affairs officials did note from the start that working in the semi-autonomous Kurdish area of Rojava would be difficult. But they promised to do their best to at least get Letts to a third country, his prison being almost on the border with Turkey, a NATO member.

“Once in Turkey and if he decides to go to Canada, we will try to assist him with this,” Andrew Carroll, a consular case management officer, emailed in July 2017.

Government officials sounded even more co-operative in phone calls, making it clear “that we were working to the same goal,” John Letts said in an interview.

But the tide had turned by the time he and Stafford Smith — one of the first lawyers certified to represent prisoners at the U.S. government’s Guantanamo Bay facility — met face-to-face with Global Affairs employees in Ottawa this April.

“I have to say that I have never been to a more dispiriting meeting in the 35 years I have done this work,” Stafford Smith said in a letter afterward to one of the GAC officials.

The parents say the standard Canadian response now — “there have been no Canadian officials in Syria since 2012. Our ability to provide consular assistance in Syria is extremely limited” — is strikingly similar to what British authorities have long told them.

Letts believes the British are worried about the impact on the parents’ terrorism-funding case if Letts gets out and makes it clear he’s no terrorist.

“I think it would scupper our trial,” said the father. “It’s better to keep Jack in there, completely unable to speak to anyone.” </s> Jack Letts, a suspected Daesh* fighter with dual British-Canadian citizenship, is likely to be extradited to Ottawa rather than to London, The Guardian reported on Saturday, citing unnamed Canadian and Kurdish sources.

Letts, dubbed "Jihadi Jack" by the British media, is among alleged extremists held in Kurdish custody in northern Syria. Canadian government is said to have agreed to extradite an estimated 11 citizens, including Letts.

READ MORE: Greek Authorities Clamping Down on Daesh Recruiters in Migrant Camp

Unlike the UK, which maintains that it cannot provide consular assistance to British citizens overseas if there are no local UK consular services available, Canada says that citizens with purported terrorist links detained in Syria and Iraq have the right to return home to face questioning or stand trial.

However, the daily claims, Ottawa has recently backed out of the deal "without giving reasons." One explanation is that the government fears an influx of suspected Daesh fighters to the country before the 2019 elections, said Canadian terrorism expert Amarnath Amarasingam.

The 23-year-old Jack Letts, from Oxford, travelled to Syria in 2014 and was detained by a Kurdish militant group in May 2017, after he fled the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa. There is still uncertainty hanging over his activities in Syria: while Kurdish officials have accused him of being a member of Daesh, Letts has denied having any links with the infamous terrorist group. Letts contacted Canadian diplomats from prison earlier this year and begged for their help to escape alleged ill-treatment by the SDF.

As Letts' repatriation to Canada has been put on ice, there's still an opportunity he can return to the UK and face charges there if he is allowed to retain his British citizenship.

According to a Canadian government report dated late 2017, there were "just over 190 extremists" with links to Canada engaged in terrorist activity overseas, mostly in Syria and Iraq.

READ MORE: US Troops to Remain in Syria After Daesh Defeated to Train Locals — Mattis

Last month, Abdel Karim Omar, a senior official with the Kurdish administration in northern Syria, confirmed that Kurdish militia has captured around 520 Daesh mercenaries, as well as 550 women and nearly 1,200 children from 44 countries, when ousting terrorists from swathes of Syria's north.

He said they were a heavy burden for the administration and pushed for more assistance with their repatriation from foreign governments, some of which have barely shown any willingness to bring their restless citizens back.

There have been some rare cases recently, though: it emerged that in September, Syria's Kurds handed over a Sudanese woman arrested on suspicion of Daesh membership as well as her baby to a Sudanese diplomat after her country requested the transfer.

In August, Washington said the SDF had handed over two American citizens, who had allegedly supported Daesh, to US authorities.

This year, London has also tried to return two "celebrity" detainees, Alexanda Amon Kotey and Al Shafee Al Sheikh, who are suspected members of the notorious Daesh cell dubbed "The Beatles." They were arrested in Syria in January and have been detained there ever since, while the British government revoked their citizenship. However, in July, the Home Office postponed their extradition amid reports that they would possibly face the death penalty in the United States. </s> Exclusive: dual national Jack Letts, 23 – dubbed Jihadi Jack – is thought to have been included in a recent agreement

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Suspected Islamic State fighter Jack Letts – nicknamed “Jihadi Jack” by the British media – is likely to be repatriated to Canada rather than the UK, sources have told the Guardian.

The 23-year-old dual national was included in a recent agreement between Ottawa and the Kurdish administration in north-eastern Syria to take home an estimated 11 Canadian citizens being held by its forces, several Kurdish and Canadian sources said.

The Canadian efforts to get Letts out of Syria were a stark contrast to UK government policy on repatriating Isis suspects and their families. Kurdish authorities in Qamishli say it has not responded to requests for cooperation.

Foreign Office 'completely obstructive', say parents of Jack Letts held by Kurds Read more

Including Letts, four British men are believed to be held in Kurdish and US-run facilities in Syria.

The UK has repeatedly said that it cannot help British citizens in places where it has no consular support – although earlier this year it attempted to extradite two surviving British members of the terror cell known as the “Beatles” from Qamishli to the US after stripping them of their UK citizenship.

Play Video 2:14 'Quest for justice': former Isis hostage on capture of ‘Beatles’ – video

The British government has not said whether Letts’ British citizenship has been revoked. “As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria … Anyone who does travel to Syria, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

Unlike other western countries, Canada’s government maintains that citizens captured in Isis territory in Syria and Iraq have the right to return home to face questioning or criminal charges.

Kurdish officials said they had engaged in promising negotiations to hand over an estimated 11 citizens, including women, children and at least one highly ranked fighter.

The unprecedented operation to address the legal limbo facing the 520 foreign Isis fighters and around 2,000 women and children in Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) custody was welcomed by the Kurds, who say they cannot detain foreigners indefinitely.

However, after sending documentation so that the SDF could prepare exit permits for the departing Canadians, Ottawa recently backed out of the agreement “without giving reasons”, according to Abdel Karim Omar, co-chair of the Kurdish foreign affairs committee in Qamishli, the Kurdish administrative centre in Syria.

While Global Affairs Canada did not comment on the deal or why it was put on ice, Canadian extremism expert Amarnath Amarasingam said the repatriation effort may have been derailed by a backlash sparked by the popular New York Times podcast, Caliphate.

A Canadian known as Abu Huzaifa al-Kanadi, who says he carried out two execution-style killings for Isis in Syria before returning home to Toronto in 2016, is heavily featured in the investigative series.

The fact that the 23-year-old was not picked up by counterterrorism services for questioning before the podcast aired caused a scandal for Canada’s Liberal government, which was accused of failing to keep the country safe.

“The government probably fears it would be political suicide to allow any more Isis suspects to come home before the next elections in 2019,” Amarasingam said.

Despite the delay, Canada has made more headway in dealing with the diplomatic headache than most.

Working with Syria’s Kurds is tricky because although the Qamishli-based administration is a major Western ally in the fight against Isis and controls around one quarter of the country, it is not a state actor. Only around 60 foreigners with Isis links have been repatriated so far: to the US, Russia, Indonesia and Sudan.

In Letts’ case, his parents Sally Lane and John Letts – themselves facing criminal charges of funding terrorism for trying to send their son money to escape Raqqa – say that the UK has left him to “rot and die” in Syria.

Letts officially called Canadian diplomats from prison earlier this year and begged for their help to escape alleged ill-treatment by the SDF, echoing earlier requests made by his parents. John Letts was born in Canada, and the family holds dual UK-Canadian citizenship.

Letts, a Muslim convert from Oxford, travelled to Syria in 2014 after dropping out of his A-levels and telling his parents he was going to spend three months in Kuwait learning Arabic.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sally Lane and John Letts have been charged with funding terrorism after sending their son Jack Letts money to escape Raqqa. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Nothing concrete is known about his activities in the now dismantled caliphate, although he is believed to have married an Iraqi woman and had a child.

While the Kurdish administration in Syria has charged him with being a member of Isis, Letts has repeatedly denied being a member of the terrorist organisation. Charges have not been brought against him by the UK or Canada.

Even if Letts makes it to Canada – a place he has visited, but never lived – his future remains unclear. He may be placed in a deradicalisation programme, and it is possible he could be charged with terrorism offences, although to date Canada has had difficulty compiling evidence to prosecute suspected Isis fighters. Only two cases have so far been made against Canadian citizens.

If Letts is allowed to retain his British citizenship and charges are brought against him at home, he could also be extradited to the UK.

“It is unacceptable that so many governments are dragging their feet on repatriation,” said Nadim Houry, the director of Human Rights Watch’s counterterrorism programme. “The conditions that hundreds and hundreds of children are living in north-eastern Syria are bleak.

“During the fight against Isis, the international coalition was very keen to take credit for taking [Isis’ de facto capital] Raqqa, but western countries appear to be happy to treat all the post-Isis issues as local problems. There’s still very little momentum to take responsibility.”
Jack Letts, a British-Canadian Islamic State fighter held in Syria, faces deportion from Syria to Canada instead of the United Kingdom.