IS bride Shamima Begum: 'I regret speaking to the media'

Islamic State bride Shamima Begum said she regrets speaking to the media and wishes she had found a different way to contact her family.
Undated file photo of Islamic State bride Shamima Begum who said she regrets speaking to the media and wishes she had found a different way to contact her family. Photo: PA/PA WireUndated file photo of Islamic State bride Shamima Begum who said she regrets speaking to the media and wishes she had found a different way to contact her family. Photo: PA/PA Wire
Undated file photo of Islamic State bride Shamima Begum who said she regrets speaking to the media and wishes she had found a different way to contact her family. Photo: PA/PA Wire

The teenager, who fled London aged 15 to join Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria, has said she wants to return to the UK with her newborn son.

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Ms Begum, who has had her British citizenship revoked, was one of three schoolgirls to leave Bethnal Green to join the terror cult in 2015 and resurfaced heavily pregnant at a Syrian refugee camp last week.

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Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph from the al-Hol camp in Syria, Ms Begum said: "They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. That's why I spoke to the newspaper."

The Home Secretary revoked Ms Begum's British citizenship in a move only permissible under international law if it does not leave the individual stateless.

It was speculated that Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, may have citizenship there but Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam denied this.

Her family have written to the Home Secretary asking for his help to bring her newborn son to Britain.

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The letter to Sajid Javid said the baby boy was a "true innocent" who should not "lose the privilege of being raised in the safety of this country".

Her sister Remu Begum, writing on behalf of the family, asked how they could help the Home Secretary "in bringing my nephew home to us".

The family said they have had no contact with Ms Begum and had only learned she had given birth to a boy through media reports.

They made clear that they were "shocked and appalled" at the "vile comments" Ms Begum had recently made to the media.

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Meanwhile her father, Ahmed Ali, 60, said he "does not have a problem" with the Government's stance and suggested he did not have sympathy for his daughter due to her lack of remorse.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday at his home in the Sunamganj region of north-east Bangladesh, he said: "I am on the side of the Government. I can't say whether it is right or wrong, but if the law of the land says that it is correct to cancel her citizenship, then I agree.

"If she at least admitted she made a mistake then I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry for her. But she does not accept her wrong."

Mr Javid's removal of Ms Begum's citizenship came amid heated debate over whether the teenager should be able to return to the UK after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp with the terror group's reign nearly over.

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While many do not want to see Ms Begum return to the UK, others have argued she should face prosecution for her actions, and attempts at deradicalisation.

The Begum family's lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said she was born in the UK, has never had a Bangladeshi passport and is not a dual citizen, which was confirmed by the Bangladeshi minister.