American ISIS Fighter Detained in Iraq

BY Frank

A U.S.-born ISIS fighter has been detained in northern Iraq, but it was not clear if he was captured or surrendered, according to reports.

The man pictured in photos released by local media was identified by an uncle as Mohamed Jamal Khweis, 26, of Alexandria, Virginia.

"That's him. I cannot believe it," the uncle, Kamal Khweis, told NBC News Monday. "He doesn't even speak Arabic. ISIS? I cannot believe this."

Mohammed Jamal Amin, a Palestinian-American member of the Islamic State group is surrounded by Kurdish fighters after he surrendered near the town of Sinjar, Iraq.

He said Mohamed told his family he was going to Europe for vacation and when they last heard from him, he said he was in Greece.

"They don't know anything about him going to the Middle East."

Local media identified the man detained by Kurdish authorities as Mohamd Jamal Amin, but that did not match the name on credit cards and a Virginia driver's license that were seized.

Maj. Gen Feisal Helkani told the Associated Press that the man was carrying a large amount of cash when he was taken into Peshmerga custody near the town of Sinjar.

The State Department said it was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen allegedly fighting for ISIS was in Peshmerga custody.

"We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports," it said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Kurdistan Region Security Council said officials were "looking into" the reports but declined to comment further.

Reached by phone, a Mohamed Jamal Khweis' father, a limousine driver, said he had not seen the photos of the detained man yet.

"I am going to the State Department right now to find out if this is my son or if this is a fake," he told NBC News.

Kamal Khweis said there was nothing in his nephew's background that would suggest a connection with ISIS.

"He's a quiet guy... a nice guy," he said. "He had a car, he had a job. His parents gave him everything. No one knows what to think. His mother is crying."

Iraqi security and military officials in Baghdad told NBC News they had no information about the detention.

Kurdistan is an autonomous region in the north of Iraq and operates largely independently of Baghdad.

A local Peshmerga commander said Amin entered Syria from Turkey two months ago and then traveled to Mosul, according to Rudaw.

U.S.-backed Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been battling to push back ISIS from areas of northern Iraq.