London: A florist from a small town in northwest England on Wednesday expressed his shock at being pictured in a propaganda magazine of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
Stephen Leyland, who runs a Flower Stall in Cheshire, appeared in the dreaded terrorist group's new 'Rumiyah' magazine that called for more lone-wolf attacks in the West targeting people like him.
The 64-year-old was unaware of unwittingly being on ISIS hit-list by his image being used from his website stevetheflowerman.Co.Uk, until he was contacted by counter-terror officers on Tuesday.
"It has come as a bit of a shock. When I was first contacted I thought it was a wind-up. I really don't know what to do. I'm not scared but I am concerned that the photo is in this magazine.
"I don't know any jihadis," Leyland told 'The Times'.
"They (counter-Terrorism officers) said that the foreign secretary (Boris Johnson) had asked about it," he added.
Leyland describes himself as "The Flower Man" and an "old fashioned market trader" on his website.
The 38-page magazine is among a number of ISIS publications aimed at inciting extreme violence in the West.
