SWISS plans to strip a terrorist of his citizenship have been scuppered by Spain.
Daniel D, also known as Abu Ilias al-Swissri, was dubbed ‘Switzerland’s most dangerous jihadist’ after he left the country in 2015 to join Islamic State.
He has been languishing in a Syrian jail since being captured in June last year.
The 24-year-old was born in Geneva to Swiss and Spanish parents and held dual citizenship. The Swiss government had started the long process to remove his citizenship only to find Spain had beaten them to it in 2015.
This means Switzerland can not do the same as it would leave the terrorist stateless.
Spain and Switzerland cooperate on anti-terrorism measures, but in this case communication would appear to have broken down.
Daniel D is the only Swiss jihadist on an Interpol list of 173 members of IS’s ‘martyr brigade’. He was captured by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the eastern Syrian town of Al-Baghuz.
He was born into a Catholic family but later turned to Islam before being radicalised.