'There was nothing human in him': A journalist's account of her under cover life as an IS militant's fiance

In her quest to find out what inspired youngsters and youth today to join terrorist organisations like the Islamic State, a young journalist went under cover, joined the Muslim community online, created a fake profile on Facebook and Twitter and almost married a Islamic State militant. An article in New York Post called My ISIS boyfriend: A reporter’s undercover life with a terrorist speaks about the French journalist  who pretended to have converted to Islam and went by the pseudonym ‘Melodie’ who hailed from a poor family in South of France. As Melodie, she monitored the online activities of the youngsters who were getting radicalised in France. [caption id=“attachment_2143789” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Representational Image.[/caption] But Melodie attracted the wrong attention. Speaking to the NY Post,  she says a senior commander of Islamic State Abou-Bilel fell in love with her and invited her to Syria.  She goes on to describe Bilel as “not a good man”,  who promised her that she will be treated like a princess when she comes to Syria. The pair’s first contact occurred in April 2014. Bilel wrote to Melodie after spotting her among his network of associates. “Salaam alaikum, sister. I see you have watched my video. It has been seen round the world,” he wrote. “What do you think of the Mujaheddin?” The two even spoke on Skype. Melodie tells New York Post: “I didn’t see the face of a man who would kill or rape — he boasted that he had killed ‘dozens’ of infidels — and those first few seconds were unforgettable. He was staring at me and when I looked back into his eyes I saw nothing, no religion, no feeling. He is not a good man. It was very strange to act nice with a terrorist, to be cute and to be saying ‘Hey, tell me about your day!’ I thought I would feel uncomfortable in a hijab but the costume helped. When I put it on, I wasn’t me any more.” Speaking to the NY Post, Melodie says that she understood what could have attracted the poverty-stricken youth of France to terrorist outfits. “She (Melodie) feels like a nobody and all of a sudden here is this man of 38, nearly twice her age, who has had all these incredible adventures, who is kind to her and telling her he loves her and wanting to talk to her 1,000 times a day.” Melodie also spoke about the hypocrisy of these militants when they say shun everything Western but they love to splurge and wear mostly designer labels. Bilel told Melodie to pick up a special after shave he liked – Egoiste by Chanel. Erelle is her second pseudonym. The journalist came back to Paris to write Melodie’s story last May and she also wrote a book “In the Skin of a Jihadist” under another hidden name and cannot admit to it. Since her encounter with Bilel, Erelle fears for her life. She employs bodyguards and has moved house. Read the full story here.