US and Bangladesh say brides aren’t welcome
An Alabama woman who joined Islamic State in Syria won’t be allowed to return to the United States with her toddler son because she is not an American citizen, the US said yesterday. Her lawyer is challenging that claim.
‘‘Ms Hoda Muthana is not a US citizen and will not be admitted into the United States,’’ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. ‘‘She does not have any legal basis, no valid US passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa.’’
President Donald Trump said later he was behind the decision.
Muthana’s lawyer, Hassan Shibly, insisted she was born in the US and had a valid passport before she joined Isis in 2014. He said she had renounced the terrorist group and wanted to come home to protect her 18-month-old son regardless of the legal consequences.
Muthana and her son are now in a refugee camp in Syria. Shibly said the administration was arguing that she did not qualify for citizenship because her father was a Yemeni diplomat.
Meanwhile, Shamima Begum, the Isis bride stripped of her British citizenship, is stateless after Bangladesh declared yesterday that she had no claim there.
The foreign ministry in Dhaka said there was ‘‘no question’’ of Begum being allowed into Bangladesh, because she had never been a dual citizen, as Britain has claimed. ‘‘She is a British citizen by birth and has never applied for dual nationality.’’
– AP, The Times