Joining ISIS has left them bored, disillusioned and afraid, French jihadists write in letters to home

Not surprising that the reality provokes reflection and regret for some (and the trivial but nevertheless importance of an iPod and the music it represents):

Le Figaro reported Islamist commanders had noticed some of the French were beginning to want to leave. One Frenchman was rumoured to have been beheaded when he explained to his commander he wanted to follow his friend who had already left.

“Everyone knows that, the longer these people stay there, the worse it will be because having watched or committed atrocities, they become ticking time bombs,” said one lawyer, quoted in the newspaper.

“But, when it comes to having a discussion about whether France is ready to accept repentants, no politician is willing to take the risk. Imagine if one of these ex-jihadists is involved subsequently in an attack?”

‘I’m fed up. My iPod doesn’t work any more here’

A group of lawyers in France is acting on behalf of the families of the jihadists to try to persuade the state to allow them to return. They told the newspaper they were trying to make contact with anti-terrorist police, the directors of internal security and the office of the interior minister,

Bernard Cazeneuve.The lawyers said nothing was agreed in advance on behalf of the jihadists — and the advice was always: “Present yourself at the French consulate in Istanbul or Erbil [in Iraq]. And then we will see.”

Joining ISIS has left them bored, disillusioned and afraid, French jihadists write in letters to home