A Free Syrian Army fighter holds his weapon as he walks during clashes with forces loyal to Syria's President Assad in Morek
A Free Syrian Army fighter holds his weapon as he walks during clashes with forces loyal to Syria's President Assad in Morek Reuters

A Kiwi jihadist with Al Qaeda links in Syria wants to leave the conflict-zone and is seeking a fresh New Zealand Passport after burning his earlier passport, reported NZ Herald.

Mohammad Daniel, known as Abu Abdul Rahman alias Mark John Taylor says what Syria now needs is humanitarian assistance and not bloodshed from jihad. The Kiwi calls himself the Soldier of Allah. In his recent online messages he had been calling himself an adventurer in Syria without any links to fighting groups. Daniel said he was being taken care of by the "Muslim brothers". He also posted photographs, showing him wielding machine guns while doing "patrol" and "guard duty".

Early this year, Daniel displayed his burnt New Zealand passport to show that he was on a "one-way trip" with no intention to return. In the latest Facebook post Daniel claimed that he contacted the New Zealand government for a new passport. In his online posts from the Syrian city of Aleppo he had been stating his desire to leave Syria as early as possible.

Ministry Evasive

However, the Internal Affairs Ministry of New Zealand refused to confirm the request saying individual passport applications will not be discussed in public reasons of privacy. A spokesman for the New Zealand Intelligence Community noted that fighters returning from conflict zones are of concern for all countries including New Zealand. The jihadi left New Zealand in May 2012 and stayed in Indonesia for two years, working as an English tutor. Daniel was put under travel curbs after he was arrested by Pakistan for entering the Al Qaeda stronghold near the Afghanistan border. In June this year, he entered Syria through Turkey.

Now Daniel wants to leave Syria by October. Though he is seeking a new passport from New Zealand he made it clear that he would not return to his homeland.

Radical Links

Daniels has been on the move. He lived in Australia for long and was a close companion of a New Zealand radical named Muslim Bin John. He even travelled to Yemen in 2009 to visit John. But John and an Australian named Christopher Havard were killed in a drone attack in Yemen, last November. They were suspected to be having links with Al Qaeda splinter group AQAP.