ISIS bride Shamima Begum has said she regrets everything she did in Syria – and has begged for a second chance in the UK.
Ms Begum, who travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State from Bethnal Green, east London, in February 2015, has admitted she was ‘brainwashed’.
The 19 year old, who lost three children prematurely while living in Baghuz, spoke out for the first time after the death of baby Jerrah in an interview with The Times.
She told the newspaper: ‘Since I left Baghuz I really regretted everything I did, and I feel like I want to go back to the UK for a second chance to start my life over again.
‘I was brainwashed. I came here believing everything that I had been told, while knowing little about the truths of my religion.’
ISIS bride Shamima Begum has said she regrets everything she did in Syria – and has begged for a second chance in the UK
Ms Begum (right), who travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State from Bethnal Green, east London, in February 2015 with two school friends, has admitted she was ‘brainwashed’
She said: ‘Since I left Baghuz I really regretted everything I did, and I feel like I want to go back to the UK for a second chance to start my life over again’
She claimed that her earlier comments to reporters in the refugee camp were influenced by the fact that she was worried ISIS fanatics would burn her tent down.
Ms Begum has claimed she regularly visits the unmarked grave of her son near the al-Roj refugee camp where she reads verses from the Qu’ran.
The Londoner, who moved to the refugee camp after fears for her life, reportedly needs guards to accompany her during the trips.
The baby died soon after UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid refused to allow Begum into the country and revoked her citizenship.
A lawyer representing the family wrote to the Home Secretary and urged him to reverse the move following the death of the teenager’s new-born son last month.
Now Ms Begum has admitted she was radicalised online after feeling ‘slightly depressed’ and ‘looking for a purpose’.
She is now being helped by other women in the camp who are de-radicalising her by talking openly about ISIS. She claimed she did not know about some of the ‘really bad things’ the terrorist group were doing.
The news comes after her ‘heartbroken’ Dutch terrorist husband Yago Riedijk, 27, said Ms Begum was ‘the perfect wife’.
He is being held in a Kurdish detention centre in north-eastern Syria and faces six years behind bars if he returns home.
Baby Jerah died soon after UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid refused to allow Ms Begum into the country and revoked her citizenship
The news comes after her ‘heartbroken’ Dutch terrorist husband Yago Riedijk, 27, said Ms Begum was ‘the perfect wife’
The ISIS fighter spoke about his love for his wife in an interview with The Times.
He said: ‘We got very close very quickly. The perfect wife. She was so young and innocent. It was very easy for me to love her.’
He married Begum just 10 days after meeting her in IS territory and has also come out and defended the decision to do so despite her being just 15 at the time, and him 23.
Riedijk also dismissed claims that his wife had a deeper role in the organisation, saying that she was ‘just a housewife’.
Shortly after their wedding, he was arrested and jailed by ISIS in Raqqa for seven months.
Jailed on spying charges, he was tortured and interrogated during his incarceration, with his wife claiming that it triggered her loss of faith in the Islamic caliphate.
In his interview, Riedjik, who’s from Arnhem in the Netherlands originally, claims that he and his wife were naive victims of ISIS and repeatedly calls for forgiveness for both.
Riedjik, whose ISIS alias was Abu Sarayah, added that he and his wife had loved their children ‘so much’ and that their deaths had a huge impact on Begum.