May snubs Trump’s call to take back fanatics

DOWNING Street has rebuffed Donald Trump’s demand that the UK takes back Islamic State fighters and their jihadi brides.

Britain has at least six fanatics languishing in secret jails in Syria and dozens of wives in refugee camps in the region.

On Sunday, the US president said European nations should ‘step up’ and repatriate more than 800 IS combatants.

If not, he warned America would be forced to release fighters who could make their way back to Europe and plot attacks. But Theresa May rejected the call, insisting prosecutions should take place in the country where the crimes were committed – even if there is no functioning justice system.

A No 10 spokesman said: ‘Foreign fighters should be brought to justice in accordance with due legal process in the most appropriate jurisdiction. Where possible, this should be in the region where crimes were committed.’

But the stance was criticised by Tory MP Andrew Mitchell, a former international development secretary, who said: ‘We cannot just close our eyes and pull up the drawbridge.’

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Sajid Javid revealed more than 100 dual nationals who travelled to join Isis have had their UK citizenship stripped by the Home Office to stop them re-entering the country.

He made the admission in the Commons while answering an urgent question on the case of Shamima Begum, who cannot be banned because she only holds a British passport. Mr Javid said: ‘Whatever role they took in the so-called caliphate, they all supported a terrorist organisation and in doing so they have shown they hate our country.’

Mr Javid also said yesterday the 650-yearold law of treason could be rewritten to make it easier to prosecute returning jihadists. He said the idea of widening the treason law to catch extremists who travel abroad ‘was worth looking at carefully’.