Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ISIS bride’s dad: It’s her fault she’s stuck there
THE father of ISIS bride Shamima Begum supports the decision to strip her of her British citizenship.
Ahmed Ali, 60, who now lives in Bangladesh, said Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s decision was correct, despite potentially violating international law and leaving his daughter stateless.
Mr Ali 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 it is correct to cancel her citizenship, then I agree.
“I know they don’t want to take her back and in this I don’t have a problem.
“I know she is stuck there but that’s because she has done actions that made her get stuck like this.” Begum, 19, who gave birth to a son, Jarrar, last week, has now said she regrets publicising her case.
She claimed: “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.”
Mr Ali is a retired tailor who came to Britain in 1975 and married Begum’s mum Asma seven years later.
They settled in Bethnal Green, East London, and had four daughters but from the 1990s he has divided his time between Britain and Bangladesh.
He last saw Begum on a visit to the UK two months before she went to Syria with two friends in 2015. Mr Ali said he had been shocked by her lack of remorse.
She caused outrage by failing to apologise for joining the terror group and saying the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 was justified. Mr Ali said: “If she at least admitted she made a mistake I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry for her. But she doesn’t accept her wrong.” Speaking in the al-hol refugee camp in Syria, Begum said that no British officials had contacted her. She said: “They haven’t given me that courtesy.”