Canada confirms it does not want former dual national ‘Jihadi Jack’ back, either

Jack Letts converted to Islam at 16 and fled his home in Oxfordshire, England two years later to join Islamic State in Syria

The 24-year-old was a dual UK-Canadian national before being stripped of his British citizenship earlier this week

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Jack Letts was captured in Syria by Kurdish forces in 2017. Photo: YouTube | ITV News

Published: 12:48pm, 21 Aug 2019Updated: 12:48pm, 21 Aug 2019

Canada does not intend to repatriate the Muslim convert dubbed “Jihadi Jack”, who is being held in northern Syria after joining Islamic State, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed on Tuesday.

Jack Letts, 24, who was a dual UK-Canadian national, was captured by Kurdish forces in Syria in 2017 and is languishing in jail there. Goodale’s statement comes a day after Britain stripped Letts of his citizenship, placing his fate in Canada’s hands.

Canada's Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. Photo: AP

“We have no obligation to facilitate his travel from his present circumstances, and we have no intention of facilitating that travel,” Goodale said in an interview with the CBC.

Goodale had tweeted the same sentiment Monday before officially confirming it in the televised interview.

“This individual and others have made the calculated decision to leave the comfortable confines of Canadian democracy, to travel halfway around the world to associate themselves with the most evil and violent terrorism in several generations,” Goodale said.