UK should take back British members of ISIS in Syria, Trump’s counter-terrorism chief said.
9 January 2025, 02:17
Sebastian Gorka told LBC that he isn’t ‘telling the UK what to do’, but that any ‘serious ally of the US’ should be committed to counter-terrorism to protect the so-called special relationship between the UK and US.
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The incoming counter-terrorism chief said that ‘global jihadism’ is on the rise, and that the UK should take back British members of the Islamic State as the “security of those [Syrian] prisons is not assured.”
Sebastian Gorka told LBC’s Ben Kentish that incoming president Trump’s administration is worried about the security of Syrian prisons, and that the UK should take back British prisoners held in the country.
Trump’s terror chief previously gave an interview to the Times, which reported him as saying that taking back these prisoners is the price of the so-called ‘special relationship’ with the US.
When asked if the UK should be forced to accept Isis members back, Gorka said any ‘serious ally’ of the US “should act in a fashion that reflects that serious commitment”.
"That is doubly so for the UK which has a very special place in President Trump's heart and we would all wish to see the 'special relationship' fully re-established."
But he has now told Ben Kentish that he “wouldn't tell the President what they need to do,” but that "any nation which wishes to be seen as a serious ally of the US should act in fashion which is in accord with commitment to counter-terrorism”.
Gorka said he couldn’t get into the details about the Syrian prisons, but that “the security of those prisons is not assured…
“There is no guarantee that any of the [Syrian] camps or any of the prisons will maintain, you know, a secure control over those who are inside them. And that should be a concern to every country.”
The paper reported that up to 20 women, 40 children and 10 men from Britain are being held in camps including Shamima Begum, who last year lost her final appeal against the Home Office's decision to strip her of her UK citizenship on national security grounds.
He also told LBC that America is “in a worse shape than we have been in many, many years because of the feckless lack of leadership of the Biden administration.
“So we will have our work cut out for us.
“But the right team is coming in, and we just dearly hope that from 10 Downing Street … to Berlin, that we will have people who likewise recognize that global jihadism is stronger than it has been in many years.
“And we would like to work together with all of our allies and our partners in the Middle East to crush this viper once and forever.”
The intervention is the latest signal from the president-elect's inner circle of his incoming administration taking a more robust approach towards Washington's allies.
Mr Trump has also threatened to impose global tariffs on imports, which experts have warned would damage international economies.
A Government spokesperson said: "Our priority remains to ensure the safety and security of the UK. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect the UK from those who pose a threat to our security."
The incoming president-elect said on Tuesday that the United States "needs Greenland for national security purposes" during a speech which saw him vow to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America".
Earlier, he criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his plans to transition away from North Sea oil and gas production, as the incoming US administration clashes with the British government.
