ISIS terrorist, Abujohndaniel Looks for a wife online

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"LONDON — New Zealander Mark Taylor would appear to be an eligible bachelor. He lists some appealing attributes in his online profile on a dating site — including work as a teacher, and he says he’s got a “good sense of humor.” He says he has an “understanding about marriage life.”

The warning signs come with the divorced 43-year-old’s current location — the de facto Syrian capital of the Islamic State’s self-styled caliphate, Raqqa.

Taylor, who was designated a “global terrorist” by U.S. authorities on March 30 and appeared in an Islamic State propaganda video, is advertising himself on islamicmarriage.com — one of several IS fighters in Syria and jihadist sympathizers in Europe and the U.S. using the matchmaking site that enables Muslims from around the world to form friendships and marital connections online.


Researchers at the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based policy research organization that monitors jihadist online activity, suspect islamicmarriage.com might not be the only mainstream matchmaking site jihadists and their supporters are using. It was the easiest singles site to investigate for jihadist activity, they say.

On islamicmarriage.com Taylor calls himself Abujohndaniel. He says he arrived in the caliphate 10 months ago and converted to Islam 13 years ago. “I need a righteous practicing Muslim lady who wants to do Hijrah [immigrate] here inshallah.”

“While the majority of the users on the website appear to genuinely be seeking love and marriage with someone who shares similar religious and cultural beliefs," MEMRI analysts say, "the platform also serves those with more radical beliefs.”

They include a 26-year-old Somali-American woman claiming to be living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and calling herself ModestMuslimah. “I hope one day to go into Jihad and fight side by side with my brothers and sisters in Islam,” she says on her profile."
 
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