German prosecutors charge man with IS membership

BERLIN – Federal prosecutors say they have charged a 23-year-old German man with membership in a terrorist organization for joining the Islamic State group in Syria.

In a statement Thursday, prosecutors said Anil O. travelled to Syria in August 2015 with the intention of working as a medic for the group.

Prosecutors said O., whose last name wasn’t published due to German privacy law, soon became disillusioned with IS after seeing how it treated fellow Muslims.

They said he tried several times to flee IS-held territory, succeeding in January. He returned to Germany in September last year and was arrested at Duesseldorf airport.