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The British government has not said whether Letts’ British citizenship has been revoked.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.”</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>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>As Syrians mark the fifth anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar Assad, here are some of the key events in the conflict:

 March 2011: Protests erupt in the city of Daraa over security forces” detention of a group of boys accused of painting anti-government graffiti on the walls of their school. On March 15, a protest is held in Damascus” Old City. On March 18, security forces open fire on a protest in Daraa, killing four people in what activists regard as the first deaths of the uprising. Demonstrations spread, as does the crackdown by Assad”s forces.

 April 2011: Security forces raid a sit-in in Syria”s third-largest city, Homs, where thousands of people tried to create the mood of Cairo”s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of protests against Egypt”s autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

 June 2011: Police and soldiers in Jisr al-Shughour in northeastern Syria join protesters they were ordered to shoot, and the uprising claims control of a town for the first time. Elite government troops, tanks and helicopters retake the town within days.

 August 2011: President Barack Obama calls on Assad to resign and orders Syrian government assets frozen.

 July 2012: A bombing at the Syrian national security building in Damascus during a high-level government crisis meeting kills four top officials, including Assad”s brother-in-law and the defense minister.

 Summer 2012: Fighting spreads to Aleppo, Syria”s largest city and its former commercial capital.

 August 2012: Kofi Annan quits as U.N.-Arab League envoy after his attempts to broker a cease-fire failed. Obama says the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a “red line” that would change his thinking about military action.

 March 2013: After advancing in the north, rebel forces capture Raqqa, a city of 500,000 people on the Euphrates River and the first major population center controlled by the opposition.

 May-June 2013: Backed by thousands of Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Assad”s forces re-capture the strategic town of Qusair from rebels, near the border with Lebanon.

 August-September 2013: A chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs kills hundreds. Obama, blaming Assad”s government, says the U.S. has a responsibility to respond and puts it up to a vote in Congress. Russia proposes instead that Syria give up its chemical weapons, averting military strikes.

 October 2013: Syria destroys its chemical weapons production equipment. The number of Syrian refugees registered with the U.N. tops 2 million.

 January 2014: Infighting among rebels spreads, pitting a variety of Islamic groups and moderate factions against the al-Qaida-breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

 February 2014: Two rounds of peace talks led by U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi in Geneva end without a breakthrough.

 May 9: Rebels withdraw from the old quarter of the central city of Homs in a significant symbolic victory for the government.

 May 13: Brahimi resigns as U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, marking a second failure by the United Nations and Arab League to end the civil war.

 June 3: Syrians in government areas vote in presidential elections. Assad, one of three candidates, overwhelmingly wins with 88.7 percent.

 June: The Islamic State group, as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is now known, seizes large parts of northern and western Iraq. In control of around a third of Syria and Iraq, it declares a self-styled Islamic caliphate.

 July 3: Islamic State group takes control of Syria”s largest oil field, al-Omar, after fierce battles with the Nusra Front, al-Qaida”s branch in Syria.

 Aug. 19: Islamic State militants release video of the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the first of five Westerners to be beheaded by the IS group.

 Mid-September: IS begins offensive to take Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, on the Turkish border.

 January 2015: U.N. estimates Syria”s conflict has killed at least 220,000 people and uprooted nearly a third of the prewar population of 23 million from their homes.

 Jan. 26: With the help of U.S.-led airstrikes, Kurdish fighters take control of Kobani.

 Feb. 3: IS releases a video of captured Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh being burned to death in a cage.

__ March 28: The northwestern city of Idlib falls to Islamist groups led by the Nusra Front.

__ May 6: President Bashar Assad acknowledges serious setbacks for his military.

__ Sept. 30: Russia begins launching airstrikes in Syria in support of Assad”s forces.

__ Nov. 14: Seventeen nations meeting in Vienna adopt a timeline for a transition plan in Syria that includes a new constitution as well as U.N.-administered parliamentary and presidential elections within 18 months.

__ Dec. 18: The U.N. Security Council adopts resolution 2254 endorsing the Vienna road map for a transitional period in Syria.

__ Feb. 3: Indirect peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition in Geneva collapse a few days after starting, over a Russian-backed Syrian army offensive in Aleppo.

__ Feb. 22: The U.S. and Russia announced a partial cease-fire in Syria will start on Feb. 27.

__March 9: The U.N.”s Syria envoy says indirect peace talks will resume in Geneva on March 14.</s>President Trump assembled a team at the State Department that understands the conflict in Syria and how best to achieve U.S. national security interests and a political solution that benefits the Syrian people.

In late August, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought on James Jeffrey as special representative for Syria engagement and Joel Rayburn as special envoy for Syria. They will address all the facets of the crisis: political transition, humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, protection of civilians and justice for victims of the Syrian regime.

They get it: Syria under President Bashar al-Assad will never be stable. Russia cannot be trusted to stop Iran’s menacing presence in Syria, especially near our ally Israel. U.S. engagement in Syria repels Russian and Iranian adventurism. Increased pressure from European countries is key to the diplomatic effort. Sending money to Mr. Assad to rebuild his country rewards bad behavior and harms displaced Syrians whose land has been confiscated. Mr. Assad must be held accountable for his war crimes. Iran’s military and proxy forces must leave Syria.

We’ve waited seven years since Mr. Assad violently cracked down on peaceful protesters. It’s up to Mr. Trump to empower them to see these objectives through.

The writer is president of Americans for a Free Syria.</s>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Iran’s defense minister said Sunday his country will continue its support of the Syrian government to ensure improved security in the region, adding that the nature of the two countries’ cooperation won’t be decided by a “third party.”

Israel has expressed concern over Iran’s growing influence in Syria, accusing Iran of seeking to establish a foothold near the frontier with the Jewish state. The United States has been pressing for Iran to withdraw its fighters from Syria. In recent meetings between U.S. and Russian officials, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton said he and Russian officials are discussing the issue, without providing details, calling it a U.S priority.

Iran says its presence in Syria is at the invitation of the Syrian government. “No third party can affect the presence of Iranian advisers in Syria,” Iran’s Defense Minister Amir Hatami told reporters in Damascus.

His comments came at the start of a two-day visit to Syria, where he met with the Syrian President Bashar Assad and other senior officials. The high-level military delegation headed by Hatami is expected to boost cooperation between the two countries, and Iranian media reported that the two are expected to sign new military and defense agreements.

Iran has provided key support to Assad in the seven-year civil war, sending thousands of military advisers and allied militiamen to bolster his forces.

Hatami said he hopes Iran can play a “productive role” in Syria’s reconstruction, according to Iran’s Press TV.

“Iran will spare no effort to maintain Syria’s territorial integrity, because security in the country will help (improve) regional stability,” Hatami said in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, in Damascus on Sunday, according to Press TV. He later met with Assad.

Israel has expressed concern over Iran’s growing influence in Syria, accusing Iran of seeking to establish a foothold near the frontier with the Jewish state.

Earlier this year, Israeli jets carried out a number of strikes against suspected Iranian bases in Syria, including an unprecedented bombardment of Iranian military installations in May, reportedly in retaliation to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights.

The two-day visit comes as Syria gears up for an expected offensive in the northern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold, which also has a large al-Qaida presence. The province is home to nearly 3 million people and borders Turkey, which fears an offensive may trigger a humanitarian and security catastrophe.

Ayyoub, the Syrian defense minister, said his government is determined to restore government control over Idlib whether through reconciliation deals or with military operations.

A Turkish, Russian and Iranian summit is expected in early September in Tehran to discuss Syria.

Idlib was on top of the agenda during talks between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Friday. Turkey has sought to delay any offensive, while Russia has expressed growing impatience, accusing insurgents of targeting its forces from the province.

In Lebanon, leader of the pro-Iran Hezbollah militia Hassan Nasrallah said that over the years his group’s fighters have never needed encouragement to join the battles in Syria because they knew their significance for the security of Lebanon and the region.

“If we take the decision to take part in a (new) large battle in Syria, our youths will only need a signal because they have devotion and clarity of vision,” Nasrallah said. “For seven years we have been fighting, there was no objection, restlessness or annoyance from our base. There was only support.”

Nasrallah was speaking on the first anniversary of driving out Islamic State militants from the rugged mountainous area in Lebanon near the border with Syria.

Nasrallah repeated Russian and Syrian claims that a possible chemical attack is being prepared to be launched in Idlib as a pretext for a new U.S.-backed attack against Syria. He said that pretext is to prevent the Syrian government from completing the liberation of its territories.

Syria denies it has any chemical weapons left, after giving them up in a Russia-negotiated deal in 2013. Damascus and Moscow accuse rebels and their western allies of staging all subsequent suspected chemical attacks.

Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — With back-to-back trade fairs held in Damascus this month, Syria is hoping to jumpstart reconstruction of its devastated cities by inviting international investors to take part in lucrative opportunities.

But the absence of significant Western participants, the challenges posed by international sanctions and the lack of a political solution to the seven-year-old conflict point to massive hurdles ahead.

The government says it will only award contracts to "friendly countries" that have supported Syria throughout the civil war. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly last week, Syria's foreign minister said Western countries that set political conditions before committing reconstruction funds are "neither invited nor welcome to help."

But the relatively small-scale participation of companies from Syria's allies, Russia and Iran — both under U.S. sanctions — can hardly even begin to cover the enormous reconstruction costs in Syria, estimated to be anywhere between $250 billion and $400 billion. A U.N. agency estimates the war has cost $388 billion, and Syria says it needs $48 billion in short term investments for the housing sector alone.

Around half of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million has been uprooted - nearly 6 million fled abroad, while 6.6 million are displaced within Syria — and entire cities lay in ruins, their infrastructure decimated.

Syrian officials say that with the government's military gains over the past year, it's now time to focus on rebuilding. The government now holds just over 60 percent of Syria's territory, with the north largely controlled by U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces, opposition fighters allied with Turkey, and insurgent groups.

"The process of eradicating terrorism has reached its final stages, and the reconstruction phase is knocking on the doors," Public Works and Housing Minister Hussein Arnous said Tuesday, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the 4th International Trade Exhibition for Rebuilding Syria.

Arnous said 270 companies from 29 countries are taking part in this year's exhibition despite the sanctions imposed on Syrian.

Most of the companies participating in the four-day exhibition are Syrian, followed by Lebanese and Iranian exhibitors.

"I don't hope that the West will come here, because it had a big hand in the war against Syria," said Youssef Alousi , sales manager at Balkis Ceramics, a Syrian tile manufacturer which was showcasing, among other designs, a picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad printed on tiles. "Syria will be rebuilding Syria," he added.

The exhibition is being held at the Damascus International Fairgrounds near the airport, not far from wrecked former rebel strongholds. Israel struck targets near the airport last month.

Buildings with gaping holes and others with their top floors collapsed could be seen on each side of the highway leading to the fair — testimony to the ferocious fighting that raged there for years.

At the opening of the convention on Tuesday, Syrian officials, journalists and visitors walked among stalls for construction materials, industrial supplies, and even an Iranian maritime company with intricate model ships.

Syria's tiny neighbor, Lebanon, had the second highest number of participants, with 35 companies exhibiting their products Tuesday. Lebanese companies are anxious to get a piece of the reconstruction cake, but the Lebanese government is split, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri reluctant to normalize relations with Syria under Assad.

But Nasri Khoury, who heads the Syrian-Lebanese Supreme Council, an organization set up in the early 1990s to support bilateral cooperation, said it is "high time for the Lebanese government to reconsider its existing policy if wants to play a principle role in rebuilding Syria."

Although 38 Russian companies took part in the Damascus International Fair last month, only one made it to Tuesday's opening. Russia is a key ally of President Assad, and its military support, starting in 2015, has helped turn the tide in his favor. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been lobbying for Western aid funding, while helping the Syrian government prepare for an offensive to retake the last rebel stronghold of Idlib, in northwestern Syria.

Valeriy Anisimov, who works for the Russian petrochemical firm JSC Promcatalys, says it hopes to tap into the underserved market but has yet to find a way around the sanctions. He said he was hoping to speak with other business people at the conference about transferring money into and out of Syria.

"There are many problems with Syria industry because of U.S. sanctions, and our company is ready to provide all the catalysts, all the technologies that Syrian customers cannot get because of these sanctions," he said, adding that his company is in talks with two oil refineries in Syria.

Russian companies face competition from China, which is making serious, if cautious, efforts to snap up reconstruction offers.

Tarif Nahhas, the Syrian representative of the Chinese Truemax engineering solutions company, said China is still trying to find its way in Syria, with many companies worried about security and stability. He said exhibitions like these help company representatives assess the situation on the ground for themselves.

For now, Syria will have to rely on small-scale investments and development projects to jumpstart reconstruction efforts, but critics say the government lacks a clear strategy for rebuilding.

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., insisted last week that America will not "rebuild Syria" for Assad and his Russian supporters, calling the idea "absurd."

"The U.S. taxpayer is certainly not going to subsidize Assad's campaign of destruction," she said. The State Department on Tuesday linked reconstruction assistance with the need to achieve "irreversible" progress in a U.N.-sponsored political process.

Iran's ambassador to Syria, Javad Turk-Abadi, said it's only natural that Iranian investors should come to Syria to help it rebuild, shrugging off U.S. sanctions against both countries.

"America's sanctions, same as with its politics, are unilateral, and the result is that America will stand alone, punishing only itself," he said.</s>SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The chief executive of a California check cashing business pleaded guilty Monday to helping smuggle rifle parts and other military equipment to rebels in his native Syria.

Rasheed Al Jijakli, 57, was arrested last year and charged in federal court with violating U.S. laws that prohibit exports to Syria.

The CEO of Palmyra Corp. conspired with three others not charged in the indictment to export dozens of rifle scopes, laser-sighting devices and other tactical equipment to Syria, prosecutors said.

He pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, City News Service reported. Sentencing was set for Dec. 3.

Jijakli and others bought the goods in the U.S., flew with them to Turkey and then delivered them to rebel fighters in Syria between January 2012 and March 2013, the indictment said.

Various groups of rebels have fought the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Until recently, the CIA covertly backed some rebels.

In July 2012, Jijakli told one of his co-conspirators that he had arrived in Syria and gave the material to rebel fighters, the indictment said. Prosecutors would not say what group he supported.

Jijakli told the accomplice that the optical devices were more expensive in Syria, and it was cheaper to smuggle them from the U.S., the indictment said. He also described how to smuggle the items to Turkey without being caught.

After returning to the U.S., Jijakli told a co-conspirator that he didn’t have “too much fun” because he was unable to “join … some action,” the indictment said.

Jijakli has no criminal history and “looks forward to moving forward with his life,” defense attorney Kate Corrigan said. “He is hopeful that the (judge) will consider his background and good works,” she said.

The three alleged co-conspirators, who are not named or charged in the indictment, include two Syria natives, who, like Jijakli, are U.S. citizens, and a Kuwaiti-born citizen of Canada who is the president of the corporation that does business in Orange County as Orange Check Cashing.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>DAMASCUS, Syria >> The Syrian government and the main umbrella for Syrian opposition and rebel groups announced on Tuesday they both conditionally accept a proposed U.S.-Russian cease fire that the international community hopes will bring them back to the negotiating table in Geneva for talks to end the war.

The announcement came after the United States and Russia agreed on a new cease-fire for Syria that will take effect on Saturday, even as major questions over enforcement of that truce have been left unresolved.

The truce will not cover the Islamic State group, Syria’s al-Qaida-branch known as the Nusra Front, or any other militia that has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.N. Security Council.

But exactly where in Syria the fighting would stop and where counterterrorism operations can continue under the truce is also still to be addressed. In addition, the five-page plan released by the U.S. State Department leaves open how breaches of the cease-fire will be identified or punished.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that it accepts the proposed truce, adding that operations will continue against the Islamic State group, al-Qaida’s branch in Syria and “other terrorist groups linked to them.”

“The Syrian government stresses the right of its armed forces to retaliate against any violation carried out by these groups,” the ministry’s statement said.

The Syrian announcement came after the main umbrella for Syrian opposition and rebel groups, the High Negotiations Committee, said late Monday that it “agrees to a temporary truce” as long as the main opposition’s demands are met.

The HNC said the “acceptance of the truce is conditional” to the Syrian government ending its siege of 18 rebel-held areas, releasing detainees and the cessation of aerial and artillery bombardment.

Talal Sillo, a spokesman for the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces told The Associated Press that his group will not abide by the truce because they are fighting against IS in northern Syria.

“Had we been fighting against the Syrian regime or the (opposition) Free Syrian Army, we would have abided by the truce,” said Sillo, whose group has become one of the most effective forces fighting IS extremists.

The U.N.-Russian agreement proposes that the cessation of hostilities start at midnight local time on Friday.

“Military actions, including airstrikes of the Armed Forces of the Syrian Arab Republic, the Russian Armed Forces, and the U.S.-led Counter ISIL Coalition will continue against ISIL, ‘Jabhat al-Nusra’ and other terrorist organizations designated by the UN Security Council,” the agreement says. It referred to ISIL, which is another acronym for the Islamic State group.

Some Syrians in the northern town of Qamishli expressed skepticism the truce would hold.

“Honestly, I am pessimistic unless there is a new development in the international arena,” Bakr Safir told the newsgathering Arab agency Arab24. “If the international community had wanted to stop the bloodshed, the killing and shelling, this could have happened three or four years ago.”

Another resident, Ruwaida Ayoub, said the people still are hoping but “unfortunately, as much as they were deceiving us and lying to us in the past, we do not believe them.”

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura halted the latest Syria talks in Geneva on Feb. 3 because of major differences between the two sides, exacerbated by increased aerial bombings and a large-scale government military offensive under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

It was not immediately clear if de Mistura will set a new date for the resumption of the talks, initially scheduled to resume on Thursday. Last week, de Mistura was quoted by Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet as saying the Syria talks won’t resume in Geneva on Feb. 25 as he had previously hoped, adding that he cannot “realistically” get the parties in the Syrian conflict back to the table by then, “but we intend to do so soon.”

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported late Monday that a new humanitarian aid convoy made up of 44 trucks entered the besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh. The delivery was conducted under the supervision of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the United Nations, SANA said.

On Tuesday, state TV reported that aid entered another rebel-held suburb, Kfar Batna.

The latest distribution of aid came as Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, began a five-day visit to Syria — his fourth since taking office in 2012.

“This is a critical situation at the present moment with millions of people in need and the objective of course of this trip is to scale up our operations and to bring as good as we can more help to Syrian people,” Maurer said in statement.

In northern Syria, the IS on Tuesday captured the town of Khanaser, cutting supply lines for government forces between the northern city of Aleppo and central and western Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says IS fighters captured Khanaser along with 12 surrounding hills. The Aamaq news agency, which is affiliated with the extremist group, also reported that IS was now in “full control” of the town, southeast of Aleppo.

The Observatory said 35 troops and 16 IS fighters were killed in the battles, adding that many were wounded. Khanaser lies along the government’s only access route to Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once commercial center.

The Observatory, which tracks Syria’s civil war, said Tuesday that it has documented the death of 271,138 people since the country’s crisis began five years ago. The activist group also said the real death toll is estimated to be about 100,000 higher than the figure it released, which the Observatory said was based on its lists of deceased people’s names.

The United Nations, which last released a death toll figure for Syria several months ago, says the war has killed 250,000 people.</s>The deployment of the S-300 surface-to-air missile systems in Syria means that the balance of power has shifted sharply in favor of Moscow, Tehran and Damascus, Christopher Assad, a Canada-based political observer and writer of Syrian origin, told Sputnik.

According to the observer, the move is "indicative of a radical change in Russia's policy vis-a-vis the protagonists in the Middle East crisis."

"Russia's deployment of the S-300 in Syria at this time is not only to fulfill a long overdue agreement between Syria and Russia, but is an induced Russian reaction to the persistently blatant Israeli aggression and illegal occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights as well as the Israeli intransigence and obstinate position with regard to its wrong-headed rejection of establishing a Palestinian state over all of the lands Israel occupied by force in 1967," Assad opined.

Still, according to Assad, Washington and Tel Aviv are unlikely to change their bellicose stance towards Syria and Iran.

"Based on Israel's post IL-20 posture, I say that the Israelis will continue their belligerent policy in the region in order to extend the Syrian crisis for as long as the US-Israeli agenda objectives are not met, namely to destabilize Syria by weakening her defenses and stealing her resources until her legitimate government either falls or abdicates," he presumed.

The political observer opined that this assertive policy of the US and its NATO allies is largely based "on the dangerous and clear notion of 'calling Russia's bluff'."

Commenting on the discontent of the US, its Western allies and Israel with the S-300 deployment the observer highlighted that the air defense installation fully complies with international law and "asserts the inalienable right for Syria to defend herself against any aggression from outside or inside her borders."

"It is a foregone conclusion that Russia will not allow the Syrian government to fall. Any military attempt to do that by force will be met in my view, with the full force of the Syrian, Iranian and Russian army and navy in the Eastern Mediterranean. There is no doubt in my mind that such a scenario, when it happens, can ignite an international crisis however," Assad suggested, commenting on various reports claiming that US and Israeli warplanes could thwart the S-300 air defense.

The political observer pointed out that "the entire world is waiting for the day when the US, France, Israel and Britain would cease upping the ante of wars in the Middle East and allow peaceful settlements under international law to end the protracted crises plaguing the region."

On October 2, Russia finished the delivery of the components of S-300 air defense systems to Syria. The system was deployed in the Arab Republic in response to the downing of the Russian Il-20 reconnaissance plane over Syria on September 17, which was destroyed by friendly fire when the Syrian S-200 defense system responded to the Israeli raid. The Russian Defense Ministry accused Israel, which carried out the air operation in Syria that day, of using the Russian aircraft as a shield against Syrian missiles.

The views and opinions expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
Jack Letts, a British-Canadian Islamic State fighter held in Syria, faces deportion from Syria to Canada instead of the United Kingdom.