Mother of man jailed in Syria for Islamic State links calls for his repatriation to UK or Canada

Sally Lane fears son Jack Letts, who left UK aged 18, may face death penalty if airlifted to Iraq under US operation

The mother of a British-born man detained for nearly nine years without trial in Syria has called for his repatriation to the UK or Canada as the US plans to airlift 7,000 Islamic State-linked prisoners from Syria to Iraq.

Sally Lane, the mother of Jack Letts, 30, said she was “frantically trying to find out as much as possible” and that it was unclear if he would face the death penalty in Iraq or remain in Syria – or be sent to Canada or the UK in line with US demands.

Neither the Canadian nor British government has updated her after an outbreak of fighting in Syria last week left the future of Letts and other prisoners from up to 70 countries uncertain. “We’ve heard absolutely nothing. They think we don’t deserve to know,” Lane said.

But she said the UK and others could not easily ignore the issue after the US intervention. “I can’t see that western governments will allow their citizens to be put on trial in Iraq where they have the death penalty and flawed trials.”