Former Diplomat says Shamima Begum Does Not Pose Threat to UK

A FORMER diplomat for the US has claimed that Shamima Begum no longer poses a security threat to the UK.

The former US diplomat said that Daesh wife Begum should be allowed to return to the UK, despite 95 per cent of the UK public disagreeing. Peter Galbraith, Washington’s former envoy to Zagreb during the Croatian War of Independence, said Begum has “absolutely rejected the Islamic State (Daesh)” and should be free to return from the refugee camp where she is currently held.

Begum was 15-years-old when she and two other schoolgirls flew over to Syria to become part of the Islamic State group in February 2015.

She had her British citizenship revoked on the grounds of national security when she was found in a Syrian refugee camp four years later, a decision that Begum has been challenging.

Recently, lawyers representing the schoolgirl from east London claim that there is “overwhelming evidence” that she was trafficked for the “purpose of sexual exploitation and forced marriage”.

Begum, now 21, is hoping to overturn the decision to remove her British citizenship, a specialist tribunal – known as the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) – is considering the case.

Galbraith, who has connections to the Kurdish administration in Syria, told the Daily Telegraph: “I’ve talked to Shamima — she is part of the group of women who have absolutely rejected the Islamic State — I know enough about her to feel quite confident that she’s not a dangerous person.”

Galbraith’s recent efforts also secured freedom for a Canadian woman in the same refugee camp where Begum has been kept, Arab News reports.

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