Anna Erelle: ‘In front of me was this man who had killed women and children’
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Version 0 of 1. Anna Erelle is the pseudonym of a French journalist who spent a month undercover investigating the secretive world of jihadi brides for a Paris magazine. Last year, she created a fake Facebook profile under the name of Mélodie, a 20-year-old recent convert to Islam. During the course of her investigations, she made contact with Abou Bilel, a notorious Islamic State fighter, who asked her to travel to Syria to be his wife. Her subsequent article led to Isis issuing a fatwa against her. Today, she lives under police protection and cannot reveal her true identity. Her book, In the Skin of a Jihadist, is published next month. One of the things that surprised me about Abou Bilel is that he used emoticons in his interactions with you…Like a teenager! But he was twice the age of Mélodie and he was talking like he was as young as she was. Was it stressful leading a double life?At the time, everything moved so quickly I didn’t have time to think about me. I had always to think about Mélodie and her next step, the next lie… Since the book, I realised maybe I was more affected than I thought. It’s like the aftermath of an earthquake. Did you ever feel guilty about lying?No. For a few minutes at the beginning, maybe, just before taking on the identity of Mélodie. At first, I felt I was a journalist, I didn’t want to lie about my job, but then in front of me was this killer who had killed women and children and so many people. A few months after, when I heard that he had died [there are conflicting reports about whether Abou Bilel is alive or dead], I thought for a few minutes – and they were long, hard minutes – whether it was my fault he died because he’d told me too much and the organisation had killed him for that. I cried, actually, because I don’t want to be involved in the death of anybody, even the worst person in the world. Was there anything you liked about Abou Bilel the more you got to know him?Nothing. I think I always try to find a little bit of good in a person, I look for it. But I tried to search for it in him for one month and I didn’t find it. He is someone without humanity. What is the attraction for young women who fly out to Syria and Iraq to join Isis forces?Multiple reasons. First, these are girls who are maybe too naive. They really think they will help the population, so they go for that. But now, for one year or so, we have seen a lot of girls going to Syria or Iraq because they think they will make a good marriage and become somebody very important when they are married to a powerful man. The scary stuff is that the girls are now as drunk on power as the men. I was thinking about the three girls in your country [Kadiza Sultana, Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, who flew to Syria from east London in February] who went and it was so sad because they went to join one of their best friends [Sharmeena Begum] and I thought: “My God. They saw how this girl’s family had been destroyed and they still went.” And they went, smiling like nothing was wrong! Do you think part of the allure is that they believe they will become famous?Probably yes, for some of them. For some, it’s not a game, it’s a goal – they want to help. For others, it’s a little bit… not fashion… but yeah, all these people want a little bit of success, they want to be famous. They want to put their name in the story of Isis so when they arrive, they are happy to go on Twitter to show how powerful they are. Do you think the rise of social networking has helped Isis?Yes, but it’s not just social networking, it’s the way they use it. They are very intelligent in the way they communicate. Before, terrorism was not like this – it was secret and insidious. But then they went on Twitter and Facebook and said: “Yes, we are murderers. You can be like us. Do you want to come?” And lots of people said yes! It appeals to a generation that feels lost, doesn’t see any future. They think in Syria, everything is possible. When have you been most scared throughout this process?The day I discovered there was a fatwa against me on the internet. I wasn’t scared of Abou Bilel but the first time I Skyped him and saw him in a car with high technology [the back of his car contained a bulletproof vest and an Uzi submachine gun], it was really intense. Do you have any regrets?No. Not a single thing because I did my job. I don’t know if I did it well, but I did it with a lot of precautions. Today, I don’t regret it because I learned a lot about Isis and I learned a lot about me too: where are the lines, the boundaries, which I will not cross. Since the Charlie Hebdo atrocity, you’ve been under police protection. What has that been like?To begin with, I had police at my place and every time I went for a meeting, they would come with me. Now I’m just under surveillance. I’m not afraid of yesterday. I’m not afraid today. But I’m very concerned about the future. In the way of thinking of these people, they never let go. When they call for revenge, they actually want to do it and they will try to do it even if they have to die to achieve it. I’m scared for the future because at the moment there’s lots of publicity around the book and so now I have the cops and many people around me but when that dies down in a few weeks, I will be anonymous and it will be easier for them. Is it true that the police made you give up your dog for your own safety?Yeah, but only for two months. It’s funny actually because I have a really big dog with a face like a teddy bear and the cops said: “You can recognise her really easily on the streets.” It was the period of Charlie Hebdo and everyone was really paranoid. Two months after, I phoned the police and said “Please can I have my dog back? I miss her so much!” and they said OK. What advice would you give to a teenage girl thinking of flying out to join Isis?If she wants to help people, she can help people here instead. She can be useful around her neighbourhood. To the teenagers who want to go for marriage, I would say: “OK, go but you will never come back. Your child will never know your parents or your family and never see where you grew up. It’s hell and when you enter hell, you can never get out.” Do you feel lonely?Sometimes, yes. For me, there is a before and after this story because my life changed, not only with the cops and security but also because many people came into my life and many others left it because they were worried about being seen with me. I’ve grown up a lot. In the Skin of a Jihadist is published by HarperCollins (£12.99). To buy it for £9.99 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846 |