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  World   Americas  02 May 2017  FBI agent on Syria mission marries ISIS terrorist, jailed on return to US

FBI agent on Syria mission marries ISIS terrorist, jailed on return to US

THE ASIAN AGE WITH AGENCY INPUTS
Published : May 2, 2017, 4:06 pm IST
Updated : May 2, 2017, 4:46 pm IST

Greene married Cuspert after tracking him down in Syria in 2014, despite still being married to her American soldier husband.

FBI hired Greene as a contract linguist in 2011 and she was asked to follow Cuspert and his activities. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP)
 FBI hired Greene as a contract linguist in 2011 and she was asked to follow Cuspert and his activities. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP)

Washington: A Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) translator was awarded two years in jail by a court in the United States for travelling to Syria and marrying an Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist who she was assigned to investigate.

According to report in Daily Mail, Daniela Greene, 38, was assigned on the case of a German terrorist known as 'Individual A,'  who was believed to be one of the deadliest terrorists and to have beheaded many innocents.

‘Individual A’, was Denis Cuspert, a German-born rapper of middling fame who converted to Islam before joining ISIS. It is also believed that he was brainwashed into joining the terrorist organisation.

Greene started noting all online movements of Cuspert's communications. She gained access to several of his online accounts including his Skype ID.

FBI hired Greene as a contract linguist in 2011 and she was asked to follow Cuspert and his activities. However, she left for Syria on pretext of going on vacation to Germany to meet her parents.

Instead, Greene married Cuspert after tracking him down in Syria in 2014, despite still being married to her American soldier husband.

Months later in July after the realisation of what she had done, Greene emailed a friend saying she was having second thoughts. “'I was weak and didn't know how to handle anything anymore. I really made a mess of things this time,' she wrote.

In August, Greene was somehow able to get out of Syria and return back to the US, where she was arrested under offence of national threat and was grilled for hours to extract information about her second husband and their activities in Syria.

Greene, who was then convicted for national threat by an FBI court, however was awarded the minimum imprisonment of 2 years, said the report. However, according to critics a person convicted with such an offence is at least awarded 13 years in jail.

During trial in December, Greene pleaded guilty to making false statements about terrorism and agreed to help the FBI, a fact which was largely kept sealed and private.

According to FBI sources, Greene was shown leniency due to her co-operation during investigation and hence was merely awarded two years in jail.

Interestingly, top FBI authorities had proclaimed Cuspert dead in air strikes in 2015, however, he was found alive after nine months.

Tags: islamic state, federal bureau investigation, national threat, world news
Location: United States, District of Columbia, Washington