A German former fighter for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has given a rare interview detailing the atrocities of the terror organisation, warning potential recruits that it has "nothing to do with Islam."
The 26-year-old man, named only as Ebrahim B under German privacy laws, recounted his experiences in a highly unusual interview before he stands trial in August charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation.
In an interview from a German prison with broadcasters NDR and WDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, he described how he was recruited at a mosque in Wolfsburg in northern Germany.
He said he had a difficult time at school and had recently broken up with his fiancée.
"If I had been picked up by a rocker gang in Jamaica or by Hells Angels in America or something, I would have gone along with it,†he said. “I stumbled and fell into the wrong hands".
Ebrahim said the recruiter argued: “How can you sleep in peace, in the warm, with heating, while young Muslims are starving or women are being raped? What happens to you, when you die in Europe and not in an Islamist town? When you die in Europe, you go to hell.â€
“They fool you,†he said. “It's explained to you that you as a Muslim are allowed to marry four women. Who wouldn't want to have four women?"
He travelled to Turkey with a friend on May 28, 2014, before crossing over the border into Syria. He was initially imprisoned over concerns that he was a spy, until his recruiter vouched for him.
Ebrahim, a trained massage therapist, claimed that Isil members are given a choice: "You must immediately decide to either be a fighter or a suicide bomber. In a nutshell, when you go there, you're either dead or dead."
German prosecutors have accused Ebrahim of willingly signing up to be a suicide bomber, and will argue during the trial that he only failed to carry out an attack in Baghdad, Iraq, because the plot was foiled in time by the Iraqi authorities.
Ebrahim returned to Germany in August 2014 after accompanying wounded fighters to a hospital in Turkey and defecting, according to the charges.
He was arrested in November and charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation in May.
He warned: “If you see that your daughter or son has fallen into such a scene, or is slowly drifting from you, find the motive, why are they behaving like that. Take a lot of time for the person, show them, that you’re his real family.â€
“Islamic State [Isil] has nothing to do with Islam,†he added. “Prison in Germany is better than freedom in Syria."
An estimated 260 German nationals have returned to the country after fighting with Isil in Syria and Iraq. Many are under official observation or have been arrested by the authorities.
