Sumith Prasad
Paramount+ with Showtime’s documentary ‘The Honey Trap: A True Story of Love, Lies and the FBI’ opens a window into the life of Denis Cuspert AKA Deso Dogg, who became an Islamic militant in the Middle East after gaining popularity as a rapper. During his time as a member of the Islamic State, which is known as ISIS or ISIL across the globe, he fought Syrian government forces along with Fared Saal, another notorious figure associated with the jihadist organization. While the singer lost his life while fighting for the group, Saal’s life turned upside down differently.
Fared Saal Served as a High-Profile Recruiter For ISIS
According to the European Union, Fared Saal was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1989. He is considered one of the first Germans who joined the Islamic State in Syria, having moved to the Middle Eastern country in 2013 with his then-wife, Karolina R., and her brother, Maximilian. Saal became part of ISIS after serving in the Junud al-Sham first, similar to Denis Cuspert. By 2014, he had started to appear in videos and images released by the jihadist organization, along with Denis. As per the German newspaper Bild, in one of these recordings, the two Germans made fun of the victims of an ISIS attack at the Shaer gas field and beat multiple corpses.
After arriving in Syria, Saal changed his name to Abu Luqmaan al-Almani and reportedly married at least five women under Islamic law. Karolina, who accompanied him to the Middle East, eventually returned to Germany and was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for sending him money and equipment from the European country. Even though Saal had been identified as a facilitator and fighter for ISIS, he is infamous for serving as a recruiter along the northern Syrian border because of his fluency in multiple languages. He recruited potential ISIS members and led them to Syria by crossing the Turkish border after the latter group arrived in Istanbul.
Due to Saal’s efforts to strengthen ISIS with new recruitments, the United Nations Security Council added him to the ISIL and Al-Qaeda sanctions list. Following this decision, the United States Department of the Treasury identified him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). According to the federal department, Saal’s crimes include trying to facilitate the move of two Austrian minors from their home country to Syria.
Information Concerning Fared Saal’s Whereabouts After His Surrender to Syrian Forces Remains Scarce Even Today
In the first half of 2018, Fared Saal surrendered to the People’s Defense Units (YPG), the Kurdish militant component of the United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). He was imprisoned in northern Syria for a year before he was interviewed by journalists affiliated with NDR and SWR in early 2019. Saal told the interviewers that he had distanced himself from the Islamic State since the end of 2016. He further added that he regretted moving to Syria and acknowledged that it was “too late” to change what had happened. In the interview, which was broadcast on ARD in Germany as part of the ‘Weltspiegel’ program, he also expressed how he understood that he was being investigated for the war crimes he committed.
After his surrender, Saal expressed his wish to be extradited to Germany. “If it now has to be prison, then I prefer a prison where you have certain rights. Human rights, etc.,” he said in the same interview, as per General-Anzeiger. Irrespective of his wish to return to his home country, no developments have been made in the case to facilitate the extradition. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office made it clear around the time of his arrest that it couldn’t provide consular assistance to the Germans in Syria. Furthermore, the European country does not have a law enforcement treaty with the Middle Eastern nation to facilitate the extradition even if it wants the same.
Since Saal’s 2019 interview with NDR and SWR journalists, updates regarding him have been scarce. In 2022, Kısa Dalga of Turkey published a feature about Meltem K., reportedly one of his wives and the mother of two of his children. Meltem eventually surrendered in Turkey and was acquitted after showing “active remorse.” As per the 2022 report, she heard that Saal was still in the custody of the People’s Defense Units (YPG) at the time. It appears to us that Saal remains in Syria even today if he is alive. Because of the lack of records maintained by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) concerning the prisoners in the country, it is difficult to verify the exact whereabouts of the surrendered ISIS member. Considering the laws in place, it seems unlikely that he will be extradited to Germany according to his wish.
Read More: Where is Denis Cuspert’s Family Now?
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