Bumbling 'Kiwi Jihadi' accuses New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern of 'stabbing him in the back' for not letting him return to the country after he fled to Syria to fight with ISIS
- A New Zealand jihadi accused NZ PM Jacinda Arden of 'stabbing him in the back'
- Mark Taylor, 42, entered Syria to join the ISIS in 2014 now wants to come home
- Ms Arden said it is unlawful for citizens to flee and join a terrorist group
- He fled the organisation last December, saying his life became 'unbearable'
- He said his biggest regret was never being able to afford a slave during his time
A jihadi who went to fight with Islamic State has accused New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden of 'stabbing him in the back' for not letting him come back home.
Mark Taylor, who was on the New Zealand Government's radar since 2011, travelled to Syria in 2014 but claims he never fought for ISIS instead acted as a guard during his five year stint with the terrorist group.
The 42-year-old, who's been mocked the bumbling 'Kiwi Jihadi' after enabling a geo-tag on social media, alerting ISIS' enemies of their location, said he felt betrayed that the New Zealand Government has left him to fend for himself.
Mark Taylor, who was on the New Zealand Government's radar since 2011, travelled to Syria in 2014
Taylor claims he never fought for ISIS instead acted as a guard during his five year stint with the terrorist group
Ms Arden told reporters last week that it is unlawful for citizens to join and fight with a terrorist organisation
'I asked the government to help me. But then eventually, they just stabbed me in the back,' Taylor told Abu Dhabi news outlet The National from the Kurdish prison where he is being held.
'I was hoping at least a government agency would at least pick me up and take me home. I was expecting that.'
Ms Arden told reporters last week that it is unlawful for citizens to join and fight with a terrorist organisation.
'New Zealand has made it very clear that New Zealanders should not travel to Syria...it is unlawful to join and fight with a terrorist organisation as Mark Taylor has done,' she said.
'His actions in joining Isis and travelling to Syria to fight for them, has created the potential for legal ramifications in New Zealand.'
The nation doesn't have the same duel citizenship laws as Australia or Britain, who are able to revoke a person's citizenship so long as it doesn't leave them stateless.
Taylor (pictured) left New Zealand with the intention of being a 'martyr', entering Syria in 2014
'Kiwi jihadi' Mark Taylor (pictured) has been detained in a Kurdish prison after surrendering
He said upon his return to his home country, he would expect to serve time in prison.
'I'm sorry for causing too much trouble and being a bit hot-headed and flamboyant in my approach. I don't know if I can go back to New Zealand, but at the end of the day it's really something I have to live with for the rest of my life,' Taylor told ABC.
Taylor - who is now being held in a Kurdish jail after being captured in Northern Syria in December 2018 - told the ABC's Middle East correspondent Adam Harvey that one of his regrets was never being able to afford a Yazidi slave because a 'decent one' was too expensive.
'To buy a slave, you're looking at least $4000 American to buy an older woman, at least past 50-years-old,' he said.
'And to buy a decent one, at least (USD) $10,000 or $20,000.'
ISIS took thousands of Yazidi women and girls hostage as sex slaves during their reign of terror.
Taylor said he was 'in a pickle' in the weeks before he left Syria.
'There was no food, no money, basic services were pretty much collapsed. I was in a pickle myself and had to make a final decision, which was to leave,' Taylor told ABC.
'That was a hard decision to call, because people were telling me 'you can't leave, you came here for the sake of Allah, you came here to die'.'
Taylor (pictured) said he would be surprised if his native New Zealand did not take him back in
Taylor got in trouble with Islamic State officials for posting tweets with the location on
In 2015, the US Government declared Taylor a global terrorist.
He had encouraged attacks in Australia and New Zealand, including releasing a YouTube video in which he told followers to 'stab a few police officers, soldiers on Anzac Day'.
Taylor has lived in Australia sporadically over the course of the past 25 years.
He spent time in and out of prison in the Middle East, including a 50-day stint in an IS jail for tweeting with his location attached.
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