Javid: I will do everything possible to stop jihadi bride coming home
British concern, Guantánamo Bay is being readied in the run-up to Donald Trump’s withdrawal of US troops from Syria as soon as April. There is acute frustration within the Trump administration over how Britain and other western European countries are refusing to take back their foreign fighters for prosecution in their own courts.
The US government is understood to prefer that two alleged members of the “Beatles” terror cell – El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, both from London – are prosecuted in the US. But with the situation increasingly urgent, they are now looking at sending them to Guantánamo. The Trump administration fears the men could be stranded in Syria, evade justice or return to the battlefield.
A well-placed US source said: “These guys have American blood on their hands.” Another said “time is running out” to secure a US prosecution.
The discovery of Ms Begum in a refugee camp has reignited the row over how to deal with returning jihadists. An analysis of court cases by The Telegraph suggests just one so-called “jihadi bride” has been imprisoned in the UK after returning from Isil territory.
Almost all are instead placed on rehabilitation courses. Home Office sponsored schemes are understood to include medical help, including mental health treatment, mentoring and council house accommodation. It approves more than 50 “interventionists” who run deradicalisation programmes. One source said Islamists assessed as lowrisk are placed on rehabilitation programmes rather than prosecuted.
Ms Begum’s plight prompted calls for her to be blocked from returning to the UK.
Mr Javid said he would seek to try her for terrorism offences if she did return. “We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our country,” he said.
“My message is clear: if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return. If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.”
Ben Wallace, the security minister, ruled out a rescue mission to bring her home but said she faced prosecution should she get back to Britain.
He also said that Ms Begum would not receive help in Syria. “I’m not putting at risk British people’s lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state,” he said. Last night the Crown Prosecution Service was unable to say how many returning jihadists had been prosecuted. The Home Office said last year that 40 had been taken to court out of 400 who had returned from Syria.
Dr Kim Howells, former chairman of the intelligence and security committee, said Ms Begum should not be readmitted to the UK, adding: “She sounds to be completely unrepentant.”
Theresa May’s official spokesman declined to comment on the case.