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The move means that if Letts is deported, he would become the sole responsibility of Canada.

The issue might have set off a behind-the-scenes diplomatic row between the two countries, according to media reports and private emails from Canadian consular officials unearthed by the National Post. It could also refuel debate over whether Ottawa should be allowed to revoke dual citizens of their status as Canadians if convicted of terrorism, treason or espionage.

Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Letts, who was dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by British media, is being held by Kurdish forces in northern Syria. The longtime U.K. resident, now 24 years old, converted to Islam at a young age and eventually left the country to join the extremist organization, eventually settling in the ISIL stronghold of Raqqa. He was arrested and imprisoned in 2017.

His entire family are dual British-Canadian citizens, including his father, John Letts, who was born in Ontario, and his U.K.-born mother, Sally Lane.

In June, Letts’ parents were found guilty of sending a £223 wire transfer to Syria that a judge ruled could have potentially been used for terrorism-related activities. They were found not guilty of attempting to send a separate wire transfer in a bid to help their son escape an ISIL-controlled region of Syria.

The court heard that a local Wahhabi man who knew Letts had warned the parents that their son might have been radicalized, and that they should take away his passport as a way to protect him. Letts’ father said in an interview with the National Post that he considered the warnings to be instead motivated by a falling out between the two.