The public prosecutor's office released the information on Friday following reports in the international press. A Brazilian newspaper had reported the facts on Thursday ahead of the public prosecutor's office confirming the information. The individual, who is of Portuguese nationality, previously lived in Luxembourg.
The headline of the Brazilian paper was "Portuguese Jihadist arrested in Syrian" and reported that Steve Duarte Amieiro had survived the collapse of the Islamic State only to be taken into custody afterwards. Duarte, who lived in Meispelt before joining the Islamic State, was caught by Syrian rbeels and Kurdish soldiers. He is said to be held in what was former IS stronghold, Baghouz.
The article went on to say that the "terrorist" (as quoted in the article) had joined ISIS in September 2014 and had been taken into custody in the Deir ez-Zor province, not far from the former IS stronghold Baghouz. The relevant secret services had already been informed that Duarte had been taken to a prisoner camp.
Duarte's imprisonment should be of interest to Europol, as a Luxembourgish arrest warrant for him had been issued previously. Duarte initially worked in the IS propaganda services, working as a camera operator and spreading propaganda on social media.
He appeared in a video for the terror group in January 2016. The video featured the execution of hostages. Duarte has now been taken into custody, as confirmed by the Luxembourgish public prosecutor's office.
The above video in Luxembourgish details Duarte's radicalisation, as well as an animated discussion with then-mayor of Luxembourg City Xavier Bettel. Duarte and four other men were stopping passers-by on Grande Rue in October 2013 to preach the teachings of the Coran. As this occurred before Bettel was elected as prime minister of the country, he approached the men and told them they were not allowed to preach without his authorisation as the mayor of Luxembourg City.
