Former wife of jihadi Mark Taylor said he had an unhealthy addiction to video war games

Mark Taylor, otherwise known as the Kiwi Jihadi or Bumbling Jihadi, had an unhealthy addiction to video war games, one of his former wives said.

In an interview with Stuff in 2014, the Indonesian woman said the Islamic State militant would argue with her about the gaming addiction.

"I have problem with his unstable character and addicted to play war game. He played game every day in long hours [sic],' Stuff reports.

"He promised to change but finally he can't. We keep arguing every day about his bad habit and he was unhappy with me being hard on him about it."

Speaking to ABC yesterday, the former New Zealand soldier revealed he wanted to come back to New Zealand after surrendering to Kurdish forces.

Mark Taylor aka Mohammad Daniel the Kiwi jihadist. Photo / Supplied

Taylor said he was a border guard for Isis before surrendering but enjoyed his time with the terrorist organisation, which introduced him to a "different way of life".

He told the ABC he initially taught English but made a propaganda video after he fell under suspicion for being a spy.

"I actually did regret making that video and I know the output was not good for my part but I'll know I'll probably spend time in jail for making that video," he said.

"I was helping to guard a border between Syrian Government...I had a Kalashnikov," he said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Kiwi who pledged his loyalty to Isis is "our problem, we have to accept that".

Kiwi jihadist Mark Taylor who left to join Islamic State, surrenders and wants to come home. Photo / Rod Emmerson

But she this morning confirmed that New Zealand would be making no efforts to get Mark Taylor out of the Syrian prison he is being held in.

Ardern spoke at length about the situation at her post-Cabinet press conference yesterday and this morning reiterated that the Government could not strip Taylor of his citizenship as that would render him stateless.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has struck a slightly less diplomatic tone than the Prime Minister over Taylor's fate.

Speaking to the Herald this morning, Peters – who is also the Deputy Prime Minister – said he had no sympathy for Taylor.

"For the simple reason he didn't give a rats about the people of this country or our rights and freedoms."

He said it might be a topic of interest for the New Zealand media, but 99.99 per cent of New Zealanders "couldn't give a rat's derriere about him [Taylor] deserting his country, threatening western civilisation and the freedom of democracy and human rights altogether, plus being a bigamist".