Spanish bride Shamima Begum apologized for joining the terrorist group and called on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow her to return to the United Kingdom, saying in her first TV interview that “she would rather die “to return to the jihadists.
“I know there are some people, no matter what I say or do, they won’t believe I’ve changed, they think I want to help,” he told ITV’s “Good Morning Britain”.
“But for those who have even a drop of mercy, compassion and empathy in their hearts, I tell you from the bottom of my heart that I regret all the decisions I have made since I entered Syria and will live with it. the rest of my life, ”he said.
Begum was only 15 when she and two classmates marched on Syria to join ISIS. She has said she married an extremist from the Netherlands and had three children, all of them dead.
Begum, who is 22 years old and lives in a refugee camp in Syria, has tried to return home, but the British government revoked his citizenship for national security reasons in 2019 and has fought unsuccessfully to recover his passport.
Begum, who wore lipstick, a black T-shirt and a Nike baseball cap for the interview, said she had been deceived when she went to Syria.
Addressing the prime minister, he offered a critical message: “I think it could help you a lot in your fight against terrorism because you clearly don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I did not want to hurt anyone in Syria or anywhere else in the world. I didn’t know at the time that it was a cult of death, I thought it was an Islamic community, “he said.
Sajid Javid, who as interior secretary made the decision to revoke Begum’s citizenship, sided with his election and told ITV News on Wednesday that it was “the absolutely right decision.”
“When I saw what I did and the information I received from my advisors and our intelligence agencies, in the end it was a very clear decision,” Javid said.
Begum acknowledged that it might be difficult for some Britons to forgive her, as they have lived “in fear of ISIS and lost loved ones,” but noted that “I have also lived in fear of ISIS and I have also lost loved ones “.
Begum has described the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, in which 22 people were killed when jihadist Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb, as “retaliation” for military strikes in ISIS strongholds.
He now clarified his comments.
“I do not think that one evil justifies another evil. I don’t think women and children should be killed for other people’s reasons and for the agendas of others, “he said.
Begum added that when he made the statements initially, he did not know that women and children were injured in Manchester.
“I did not know about the bombing of Manchester when I was asked. I didn’t know people had died, I didn’t know women and children were hurt because of that, ”she said.