Canada needs to 'have eyes' on returned ISIS fighter, says de-radicalization expert

De-radicalization expertMubin Shaikhsaid he's conflicted over what to do about returned former Canadian ISIS fighter Abu Huzaifa,a man he said he has personally counselled since he returned to Canada.

"He's going to school. He's working. He's trying to repair his life. He understands what he did was wrong, or even what he was involved in was wrong. And he is working toward rectifying that," Shaikhsaid in an interview with host Vassy Kapelos on CBCNews Network'sPower & Politics Thursday.

"What does that mean? That we can rehabilitate him and just send him on his merry way and everything is okay? I don't like that idea. I think we need to keep him in some kind of program or something where at least we have eyes on him."

Huzaifareturned toCanada in 2016, but a new New York Times podcast has drawn renewed attention to his story. The former ISIS membergave detailed accounts to NYT reporter Rukmini Callimachiofcarrying out two execution-style killings whilea member of ISIS in Syria.

Huzaifahas since told CBCNews hedidn't killanyone.

"Look, he went when he was a young kid. I mean, 18 years old," saidShaikh, who worked as an undercover counter-terrorism operative with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP. "We know that human beings, our brains don't stop developing until they're 25. So, you can put him in that category of vulnerable, impulsive youth impulsive decision-making.

"Now he's going through a new period of instability, right? Now all this is coming out. He feels guilty but at the same time he kind of feels good that he was able to go and get the experience that he did.

"It remains to be seen what kind of example will be made of him, if anything. But it just illustrates for us after all the conferences and research papers and, you know, panels this is the real deal. This is where the rubber meets the cement."

Watch the full interview below.

'He's obviously being deceptive'

6 years ago

Duration 7:51

Mubin Shaikh, former undercover operative for RCMP and CSIS, discusses Canadian ISIS fighter Abu Huzaifa - a man he has personally counselled.