JIHADI BRIDE SEWED SUICIDE VESTS ON
Spy chiefs give PM chilling briefing on Shamima Begum
JIHADI bride Shamima Begum stitched suicide bombers into explosive vests, spy chiefs have told Theresa May and Sajid Javid.
The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have been briefed by the intelligence services about claims that Britishborn Ms Begum was witnessed preparing suicide
vests for would-be martyrs – sewing them on to the bombers so that the devices could not be removed without detonation.
Intelligence sources told this newspaper they have been informed of her chilling role in Syria actively preparing jihadis to take their own lives as Islamic State collapsed.
If the allegations prove to be correct, they will shatter the claim by the teenager from East London that she was nothing more than an IS fighter’s wife after she enlisted with the death cult in 2015.
It is understood the information was gleaned by allied spy agencies – believed to be the CIA and Dutch Military Intelligence – from interrogation of other Western IS converts. It is not known whether Ms Begum was a willing participant.
After being found by journalists in a camp in northern Syria in February following the collapse of IS, Ms Begum, now 19, insisted she had never ‘done anything dangerous’ during her time with the terror group in its stronghold of Raqqa and begged to be allowed back into Britain. But Mr Javid branded her a danger to the UK and revoked her citizenship.
She said: ‘When I went to Syria, I was just a housewife. I just stayed at home and looked after my kids. I didn’t do anything dangerous… They don’t have proof that I did anything dangerous.’
However, a senior intelligence source said: ‘She was involved and her former comrades have grassed her. She was literally stitching the vests, stitching them into the vests.’
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses in Syria also painted a dark picture of Ms Begum’s active role within Islamic State. Anti-IS activist Aghiad al-Kheder told the Sunday Telegraph that she was part of the group’s ‘morality police’, in charge of enforcing strict discipline among European recruits. Mr Kheder said Ms Begum carried a Kalashnikov assault rifle and was feared as a strict leader. ‘Members of our group from Raqqa knew her well. If you get the chance to interview her again, you can ask her about an incident that happened in Al-Amassi Street in Raqqa in 2016,’ he said.
‘She shouted at a civilian woman wearing brightly coloured shoes and told her that was “haram”, or not permissible, as this would attract the attention of men.’
Mr Kheder said she was likely to have been paid between £500 and £1,000 a month in her senior role, which included imprisoning and whipping women found not to be observing strict dress codes or caught walking around without a male chaperone.
It is also claimed that Ms Begum tried to recruit other Western girls to the IS cause.
After running away from Bethnal Green, Ms Begum lived in Raqqa with her husband, a Dutch extremist named Yago Riedijk.
Syrian troops and Western special forces spent 2017 clearing the city house by house. Their efforts were severely hampered by suicide bombers.
Ms Begum claimed: ‘When we lost Raqqa, we had to keep moving and moving and moving. The situation got difficult.’
But a Government source said: ‘Those who stayed to the end were the hardcore, there is no disputing that. Lots of them went [to the IS stronghold] for a couple of weeks, hated it and came back. Many more left when Raqqa fell over a year ago. But she stayed to the bitter end and now we know why.’
Other Whitehall sources told The Mail on Sunday that the top-secret intelligence has been shared at the highest levels of government following the row over Mr Javid’s decision to block Ms Begum’s return. However, there are concerns that such evidence may not meet the legal threshold for trial in Britain due to complications over whether it would be permissible in court.
New laws came into force last week that would see Britons jailed for ten years just for travelling to war zones. The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 makes it illegal for UK citizens to travel to terror hotspots, as part of a clampdown inspired by the legal grey area around the Begum case.
Welcoming the new measures, Mr Javid said: ‘These laws give police the powers they need to disrupt terrorist plots earlier and ensure those who seek to do us harm face just punishment.’
Having revoked Ms Begum’s UK citizenship to block her return to Britain, a furious row was sparked when her two-week-old son Jarrah died of pneumonia in a Syrian camp. Senior Tories distanced themselves from Mr Javid’s decision, describing the Government as ‘morally responsible’ for the death of the newborn, while Labour labelled the situation ‘a stain on the nation’s conscience’.
Jarrah was born a British citizen on February 16, shortly before the Home Secretary stripped his mother of her passport. Ms Begum’s British family had begged Mr Javid to allow safe passage for Jarrah to come to London.
Tory MP Philip Lee suggested at the time it was Mr Javid’s desire to lead the party that was behind his blocking of Ms Begum’s return. But last night the new revelations prompted MPs to defend Mr Javid.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: ‘Cases that rely on secret intelligence for security decisions can be hard to explain in public.
‘If true, these allegations suggest a reason Ms Begum may have stayed in IS-controlled territory to the end, and would suggest a good reason to suspect she would be a danger to the UK.’
Ms Begum’s father Ahmed Ali said last night: ‘If she has done anything wrong, she should be brought to England and punished.’
The Begum family’s lawyer demanded the Home Office make any evidence they hold against their daughter public. Tasnime Akunjee said: ‘On behalf of the family, we would like to see this evidence, given that it has been leaked, and have it tested in proceedings in due course rather than through hearsay.’
The Home Office said: ‘Decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and are not taken lightly.’
‘Now we know why she stayed in Raqqa’