Meeting the western Jihadists of ISIS

Before we begin our interview with two foreign fighters in Syria, our camera captures them both adjusting the scarves masking their faces. One of them carefully positions an AK-47 between them.

We have interviewed them before, but telling which masked militant is which isn’t easy. With unintended comedy they reintroduce themselves by their jihadi names: Abu Bakr and Abu Anwar. They say they are in Northern Syria, at what appears to be an internet café.

We began reaching out to jihadi fighters in Syria online about a year ago. Abu Bakr was open to talking with us and he gradually agreed to bring other fighters to do an on camera interview. A process made tougher as they change locations every couple of months.

Abu Bakr won’t tell us where he is from, but Abu Anwar is British. “I’m from the South of England. I grew up in a middle class family. Life was easy back home. I had a life. I had a car. But the thing is: You cannot practice Islam back home.” He told us, “We see all around us evil. We see paedophiles. We see homosexuality. We see crime. We see rape. And we can’t do anything about it because we are obeying by the laws of the kuffar.”

Initially, both fighters came to Syria to join the rebel alliance against the regime of Bashar al Assad. But they now believe that establishing an Islamic caliphate is more important.

When we asked Abu Anwar what message he had for friends back home it was a call to join the fight: “Leave the lands of infidelity and leave for the lands of Islam. We have an Islamic state in Raqa. Alhamdulillah now in Iraq. And I ask all my Muslim friends to make hijrah to these Islamic states.”

In all our conversations, both are unfailingly polite. They patiently answer our questions, determined for us to see their point of view: For them, America is an immoral country at war with Muslims.

We asked them about the videotaped killing of American journalist James Foley. “When the video was released we watched it in our base and one of the brothers downloaded it and my initial response was that this was a direct response to the crimes of the US against the Islamic State,” Abu Anwar told us.

Abu Bakar added: “We thought the Islamic state has no other choice really. The US has the technology but it doesn’t mean they can call any country and bomb anybody they want and not stop on anything. ISIS tried to negotiate for a Muslim prisoner — tried to negotiate with them for ransom but then they are too arrogant you see. We thought it was very justified and we thought what James Foley said himself….that his real killers were actually the US.”

Their interpretation of Islam is radical and extreme — they call the Muslim Council of Britain “apostates”; their sense of justice is medieval. We asked them if they would actually consider carrying out an execution by beheading. “This is the Islamic way of execution and we will do only that which please Allah. It means cutting off the necks of the enemies of Islam then we are more than happy to do it.”

Abu Anwar told us, “I would like to meet the Lord Allah and tell him what I did for his religion. I hope God gives me the chance to do what the brother did with James Foley. Whether it’s James Foley, or a soldier of America or Bashar Al Assad….my hands are ready to do this blessed act.”

But when we ask why they continue to support ISIS when even Al Qaeda has condemned the group’s brutality, they are initially stumped for an answer and their commitment wavers.

“It’s a tactical difference. Basically Al Qaeda doesn’t say they are very brutal. They have operational differences with them. And they disagree with them.” Abu Bakr explains, “But whatever is Islamically allowed, we do it. It doesn’t matter which group it is and what it is called. ISIS or Al Qaeda.”

 The only time they seem to pause in their Islamist rhetoric is when we ask about their families. It’s clear that both expect to die in Syria, either in battle or in what they call a “martyrdom mission”, a suicide attack against enemy forces. Abu Anwar says his family has given up trying to bring him back. “They understand that I am not coming back and they know that they will not see me again in this life.”

 (Atika Shubert is a CNN correspondent based in London. Follow her on @atikaCNN) ATIKA SHUBERT and BHARATI NAIK, CNN