He is one of thousands of suspected foreign members of Isil captured in northern Syria but the instant we meet, it is clear that Muhammad Saqib Raza is no ordinary member of the jihadist caliphate.
Erudite and well-spoken with unaccented English, Raza is at pains to present himself as a liberal Muslim, not afraid to shake a woman’s hand and hold eye contact, unlike many of the more fanatical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) suspects held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The act – if that is what it is – seems to come easily to Raza, a Pakistani-born former NHS doctor who is among a handful of UK citizens detained in Syria and accused of links to Isil.
But unlike other Britons…