Islamic State's lasting grip is a new hurdle for Europe, US

PARIS (AP) — The girl, speaking in the lilting accent of southern France, appeared in government ads describing how she was recruited by Islamic State extremists during her quest for religion, then encouraged to quit school and go to Syria, and finally to plot a suicide attack against a synagogue at home.

Islamic State and al-Qaida extremists don't break off contact just because someone is caught — and the young people themselves have a hard time pulling away from what she described as their "online tribe."

Bouzar said that can mean countering a message of anti-materialism by showing them the videos of fighters lounging in fancy villas or sporting watches with an Islamic State logo.

Or finding someone who has returned from Syria to explain that instead of offering humanitarian aid, the extremists are taking over entire villages, sometimes lacing them with explosives.

In the United States, a young Minnesota man who admitted he planned to go Syria to join the Islamic State group is among the first to take part in Minnesota's de-radicalization program, the first of its kind in the United States.

Yusuf, now 20, stayed in a halfway house while his case was pending and remained there after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

In the U.S., participants are already charged with terrorism offenses, and the goal is to assess their risk of backsliding and give them the tools to keep from slipping back into the networks that once drew them in.

Finding out what motivates the slide into violent extremism is crucial to instilling doubts and ultimately changing minds, as is a risk assessment, said Koehler, who has worked directly with several dozen families in six countries.

The French de-radicalization sessions are conducted in rented rooms, the five participants only told the location 10 minutes in advance because, Bouzar said, Islamic State recruiters "are hounding them, trying to geo-locate us."

Koehler evaluated their level of engagement in terror activities and chances of relapsing, and the federal judge overseeing their cases will use that information and other factors to determine their sentences.

[...] on the minds of law enforcement are cases like that of a young Frenchman known as Abu Oussama , seen in extraordinary hidden camera footage captured by an undercover documentary filmmaker .

Flagged to police by his father, detained in Turkey trying to reach Syria, he was imprisoned in France for five months until authorities determined he was no longer a danger, he says.