Runaway schoolgirl Shamima Begum has claimed she was
Jemma Crew and Aine Fox
February 17 2019 2:02 PM
Runaway schoolgirl Shamima Begum has claimed she was “just a housewife” when she left Britain to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria and does not regret her decision.
Ms Begum, who has given birth to a baby boy, accepted she may have made a mistake but said that living under IS had made her “stronger, tougher”.
The 19-year-old said she had been attracted to go to Syria after seeing news and videos on the internet which emphasised the role of family, adding that her biggest priority now was her son.
But she admitted she knew the group was carrying out beheadings and executions before she left, adding that she was “OK with it at first”.
Asked if she felt she made a mistake travelling to Syria, she said: “In a way, yes, but I don’t regret it because it’s changed me as a person. It’s made me stronger, tougher, you know.
“I married my husband, I wouldn’t have found someone like him back in the UK.
“I had my kids, I did have a good time there. It’s just that then things got harder and I couldn’t take it any more and I had to leave.”
Ms Begum was speaking next to her newborn son, who she said she had named after her previous son who died, in accordance with her husband’s wishes.
The teenager was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK to travel to Syria in February 2015.
She told The Times last week while heavily pregnant that she wishes to bring up her baby in the UK, and her family have begged for her to be shown mercy and to be allowed to return to east London.
