Muslim cleric wants Isis bride prosecuted
AN Islamic cleric has said that Irish Isis bride Lisa Smith, who is in a refugee camp in Syria, should not be allowed ‘walk freely around the cities of Ireland’.
The Imam of the Dublinbased Islamic Centre of Ireland, Shaykh Dr Umar AlQadri, told RTÉ’s Seán O’Rourke: ‘Lisa Smith is an Irish citizen. She was born and bred here and is part of the Irish society and it is important that we look after our own people and that we bring Lisa Smith back. But Lisa is not an ordinary citizen,’
He said: ‘Lisa is a citizen who has chosen to leave Ireland to join a group that undermines everything we stand for. That undermines democracy, religious freedom, purism, inclusivity.
‘She has done so in 2015 when the whole world knew about the horrors the so called Islamic State was committing.’
Ms Smith and her daughter appeared to be in good health in an interview in Irish Mail on Sunday when she was tracked to the Al Hawl refugee camp on the Iraq border in Syria. Al Hawl is a sprawling desert camp designed Convert: Lisa Smith is in Syria to house 10,000 Iraqi refugees. It is now home to about 76,000 people, many of whom fled Isis’ last enclave in Baghouz.
Ms Smith, a former private in the Irish Defence Forces from Dundalk, denied in the newspaper interview that she had ever owned or used a gun while in the so-called caliphate.
Dr Al-Qadri said: ‘For her to join that group, I believe is a severe crime and therefore when she comes back she should not be treated as an ordinary citizen.
‘She should be prosecuted for joining the group.
‘My concern is that many of our politicians and Taoiseach talk about her coming back and that is fine.’
He added: ‘But when she comes back, what will happen to her?
‘We, as Muslims, are very concerned. What if she walks freely around Ireland?’ Dr Al-Qadri, who is chair of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council and Chief Imam of the Islamic Centre of Ireland also said Ms Smith’s child was ‘not safe with a mother who holds such radical views’ and should be brought up by family members.
In her interview, Ms Smith said: ‘When I signed up to the Irish Defence Forces, it was just a job, just a career.
‘I was looking for answers, reading books, why are we here? I was very depressed in my life and I didn’t want to live any more.’
‘I guess I was suicidal. If you don’t get answers, you end up killing yourself. Then I came across Islam, I learned about it through Facebook,’ she said.
After converting, Ms Smith eventually travelled to Syria.
‘To join that group is a severe crime’