Swedish-Norwegian “Islamophobia” expert turned Islamic State jihadist Michael Skråmos has been arrested by Kurdish forces in Syria, with sources claiming Norway wants to prosecute the extremist.
The 33-year-old, born in Sweden to Norwegian parents, was captured this week in the village of Baghouz in one of the very few remaining areas under any form of Islamic State control, Swedish newspaper Expressen reports.
Skråmo had been one of the hundreds of Islamic State terrorists still fighting Kurdish forces and attempting to defend the village. He was also not the only foreign fighter, with most of the last surviving holdouts being foreigners.
Though the Swedish citizen had told relatives that he would rather die than surrender, he was allegedly captured by the Kurds after surrendering to them following the previous capture of his seven children.
Swedish YPG soldier Jesper Söder described the capture of the infamous jihadist, saying, “He was arrested with a cluster of people. I think he was found in a cluster of people in a tunnel where he had dug himself in.”
Söder added that around 50 Islamic State members were arrested at once, including women and children.
Magnus Ranstorp, terrorist researcher at the Swedish National Defense College, commented on the arrest and his potential prosecution by the Norwegian government, explaining: “In Norway, the average penalty for participation and co-operation with IS is approximately seven years.”
He also added that there was a possibility of Skråmo being handed over to the United States, where he could face a much more substantial sentence of up to 30 years for fighting for the disintegrating caliphate.
Ranstorp suggested that while Skråmo had been well-known in Sweden, calling for Islamic State supporters to commit attacks on Swedish soil in propaganda videos, he was likely not involved in planning terror attacks personally.
“He has not been an international propagandist; that is, someone who appears to speak in English or other languages in his videos. So he is big in Swedish context but he is small potatoes in the Islamic State,” Ranstorp said.