French authorities have arrested and charged a man alleged to have been a key recruiter for the Islamic State militant group (IS) in Syria, officials said, reports Newsweek.
Kevin Guiavarch, 24, is in French custody after he was extradited from Turkey. Authorities have placed him under investigation for preliminary terrorism offences while their investigation continues, a judicial official told The Associated Press.
Guiavarch is supected of association with terrorist criminals and the financing of extremist activity, according to the official, who gave no details on where the suspect had been in Syria.
Turkish authorities arrested Guiavarch, from the French region of Brittany, in June and they returned him to France. French media reported that Guiavarch surrendered himself to authorities in Turkey and said he was “repentant,” according to French newspaper Le Figaro.
In 2012 and then aged 20, he reportedly traveled to Syria to join the Al-Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front, now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. He then joined IS before leaving Syria with four women, who were also deported to France, according to French media reports.
French security services continue to battle the threat of returning jihadis who have spent time with extremist groups in conflict zones, as well as homegrown extremists. Paris prosecutor François Molins said in September that those who have received weapons and explosives training are a “time bomb” for France.
Some 1,700 French jihadis have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight for extremist groups, according to figures released by US-based intelligence consultancy The Soufan Group.
In October 2016, President François Hollande said that the country and the European Union must prepare for an influx of returning foreign fighters as the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces continued their offensive on the Iraqi city of Mosul.